Former Head of BMW Design, Karim Habib, has been appointed as the Head of Infiniti Design, effective July 1, 2017. He will replace and report to Alfonso Albaisa, who will be promoted to Senior Vice President Global Design for Nissan.
Habib has an accomplished track record in Automotive Design for several premium automotive brands, including BMW and Daimler AG. He will be based in the company’s technical center in Atsugi, Japan and lead the global Infiniti design teams in Japan; Beijing, China; San Diego, USA and London, England.
“We are happy to have Karim join us and head our global Infiniti design teams. During his career as a designer and a leader of global teams he always created modern and inspiring designs” said Alfonso Albaisa. “Karim is very skilled at capturing the heart and passion of a brand while at the same time giving each design its unique character. I look forward to Karim inspiring our teams to shape the next generation of Infiniti’s”
“Karim has a strong background and impressive track record in automotive design and the knowledge and mindset to develop a global premium brand” said Roland Krueger, Global President of Infiniti Motors Limited “Design is one of the key pillars of our global brand development at Infiniti. Karim brings unique design skills that will accelerate Infiniti’s progress toward the goal of capturing and expanding our share in the global luxury market.”
Karim Habib most recently led the BMW Brand Design team in Munich, Germany, where he was responsible for production and concept cars such as, the X1, the X2 Concept and the CSL Homage. Before this, as head of advanced design for Daimler, he worked on the current Mercedes-Benz C-Class as well as the new Smart. He started his career at BMW in Advanced Design where he was responsible for the Design of the previous 7 Series and the Concept CS.
Habib entered the automotive industry after earning a Mechanical engineering degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada and a design degree from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, USA.
