Van Hooydonk, 40, has been a designer at BMW since 1992 and president of DesignworksUSA, the Californian design studio of the BMW Group, since 2001. The Dutch designer developed the exterior design of the highly controversial 7 Series luxury sedan launched in 2001, with it's sculptured body and imposing rear. Also flowing from van Hooydonk's sketchboard are the recently launched BMW 6 Series coupe, the X5 SUV and X3 baby SUV, as well as the 3 Series

"Design is playing a bigger role helping companies establish their brands -- because consumers are more brand conscious. Now consumers want to know what a car stands for -- it goes beyond the superficial perception."

"In designing cars, you either completely express the brand values or miss them altogether. BMW's brand is all about "the ultimate driving machine." It's not enough to design a BMW that's beautiful. A BMW has to look like it's meant to move. It has to look dynamic."

"So why change a car's design once it perfectly embodies the brand? A brand is a living thing. It changes over time. We don't live in a vacuum. Consumers' views change. For a brand, tradition is important for authenticity and inspiration. But if a brand is a living entity, you have to feed it things. A designer's job is to keep it alive."

"Society is changing. People want more individuality from products, including cars. So designers need to give each car a distinctive personality. Consumers are looking for more emotion in products. They want to identify with a certain lifestyle."

"Designers are working on cars now for 2007. Designworks has always tapped into other fields to see where industry is innovating. We're looking at products and innovations in architecture, industrial design, fashion -- electronic devices, new materials. There's a movement to simplicity. Take the on-off toggle switch on the Mini. Technology is more and more complex, but people say: Please don't tell me about it. If I can't work it, you'll get it back."