Mercedes design chief calls out Audi, BMW and AI

YOU CAN expect the unexpected at Munich Motor Show and not necessarily new models and concepts, 2025 throwing up some rivalry among car designers centred on long time Mercedes-Benz penman, Gorden Wagoner.

Not known as a “shrinking violet”, Mr Wagoner has let fly at the interior designs of other German brands Audi and BMW after questioning from publication TopGear which asked his opinion of the Audi C Concept’s interior design to which he replied, “(it) looks like it was designed in 1995”.

The publication had asked readers their opinion of the new ‘old school’ interior styling filtering into some German concept car (and no doubt production models at a later date) “And just for fun, we (TopGear) also put the very same question to Merc’ design chief Gorden Wagener, because why not fan the flames of competition between the German big three?”

Mr Wagoner said, “That interior (of the Audi Concept C) looks like it was designed in 1995. It is a little bit too known, and there is too little tech. I have always claimed that I am a big fan of hyper-analogue things, but you cannot ignore a screen. When you have a small screen, you automatically send the message ‘congratulations, you are sitting in a small car’”.

“I mean this is a concept car, and it’s a niche car too, so even if they build it like this it doesn’t really matter. But for a mainstream solution, going back to all switches will not work,” he continued.

“I believe that with large language models, we will see more voice operation. It is now working perfectly. I think that will be the future, but even so you want to have a visual reference on the screen, or you might want to watch a movie and stuff like that. So yeah, you need big screens.”

Reader responses to TopGear’s question on styling did not reflect Mr Wagoner’s opinion.

The Audi Concept C’s minimalist interior has a retractable 10.4-inch infotainment screen that disappears when not in use.

A production model is slated for 2027 as a replacement for the discontinued TT and R8 sports models

On a roll, the publication asked Mr Wagoner for his thoughts on the cabin of the BMW iX3 Neue Klasse to which he replied, “What the other manufacturer did? (BMW) I mean, they showed the concept a couple of years ago with the information across the bottom of the windscreen. I have to say I'm not a big fan of that because it's so far away it’s hard to read”.

“Everything will appear smaller so it’s distracting, and you need a device to operate it because it’s too far away to be touch-sensitive, so you have to put a touchscreen in there which they did,” he added.

“So, it’s a pretty conventional solution, and actually a complicated one because you have information on different levels, and I don't think that's intuitive.

“I mean, they think it’s progressive and they must love it otherwise they wouldn’t have done it, but I’m not convinced by it.”

Audi and BMW have made no comment on Mr Wagoner’s criticism at the time of writing.

Mr Wagener went on to criticise the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for designing new cars, including within his own company, saying “it does not create good results”.

Speaking with website Jalopnik, he said AI “creates 99 per cent sh*t solutions that are really ugly, or weird, or not brand specific”.

Mr Wagener said AI generated car renders on social media platforms were a “real problem” for OEMs, as they meant the “spectacular aspect” of motor shows was lost to “over-exaggerated” online concepts.

He told Jalopnik that it has become harder to create concept vehicles for motor shows that actually stand out and leave a lasting impression on people because we get so conditioned to seeing fantastical cars on our social media pages – cars that couldn’t possibly exist in the real world, even as concepts.

“I go through Insta, and it’s just... another one. You get bored, you know? This AI stuff is getting really annoying,” he concluded.

With TopGear and Jalopnik.