French Design Is More Emotional

2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 09:36

Boris Reinmöller was the creative draftsman for the Peugeot RCZ. In an interview with Autogazette, the 35-year-old talks about the relationship to the Audi TT and the different orientations between German and French design.

Autogazette: Have you already counted how often you are asked about the Audi TT when it comes to the Peugeot RCZ?

Boris Reinmöller: Very often and that was never an issue for me. It is clear that it is the same type of car. The RCZ sports coupé, which is based on the 308 family sedan, has a similar concept to the TT, which is based on the Golf. But when it is said that we have copied the design, I have great difficulties with it because I didn't even have the TT in mind.

Autogazette: But aren't there similarities?

Reinmöller:I think that when you see the car in real life, you don't get the impression that any lines have been copied. He has his very own character and is much more emotional in our eyes and more muscular than the TT, who rather represents the German values and is very sober. And we are very Latin in that sense.

Autogazette: What did you think when you designed the car?

Reinmöller: The goal was to design a sporty coupé, something we haven't had in a short history. I wanted to create the most emotional design possible

Autogazette:The snapdragon has gotten a bit smaller. Are you glad it's pushed back a bit now. Was that a design direction that was okay for you, or are you happy that things are now heading in a different direction?

Boris Reinmöller: I think it's okay to develop and see what you can still do with the front. And it is precisely this kind of slight aggressiveness on a sports coupé that suits me perfectly. For me this was never a problem.

Forward-looking studies

Autogazette: Where will the design for Peugeot go in the future?

Reinmöller: The SR 1, which was shown at the IAA in Frankfurt, and the BB 1 as a small city car answer the question.

Autogazette: Does that mean that the BB 1 will grow out of its study character and be built?

Reinmöller: With the BB 1 it was officially announced that we would like to build it. We are in the process of developing the concept. Not as necessarily as it is now, but the concept. SR 1 - this is a design study that shows design principles that we would like to do in the future. This is not necessarily about the car itself, but about the elements that the car contains.

Always in competition

Autogazette: is there such a thing as a French design?

Reinmöller: Yes, I think so. Even if the three brands are very different. I believe that overall we are a little more emotional, a little more individual than some brands. It is very important to us that every car has its own strong character.

Autogazette: How do you, as a German, come into harmony with French design?

Reinmöller:I came to France ten years ago. Every designer knows how to adapt to the philosophy of the brand. That doesn't necessarily have to do with French, but with the brand. And that worked wonderfully. When I came to Peugeot in 2000, I really liked the design language and it suited me. It wasn't a problem for me to adapt.

Autogazette: Which cars did you design before?

Reinmöller: In the 2008 report we had a concept called Peugeot RC-Hybrid 4. That is a concept that I was working on. The RCZ is the first for the road.

Autogazette: The first car that you are solely responsible for?

Reinmöller:I was the creative designer on this project. Of course, there are also those in charge above me.

Autogazette: What were you doing before?

Reinmöller: There are hundreds of designers who have never had anything on the street. That is our daily bread, that we work for the internal projects and what finally comes out on the street is two percent of what we actually work. And for many years I worked internally on design that wasn't meant to be made public. And otherwise you are always in competition with other designers for production cars and you are very busy.

The interview with Boris Reinmöller was conducted by Thomas Flehmer