Chinese Cars Are Still Cheap. But They’re No Longer Ugly

One of Mr. Hilton’s Chinese colleagues has only been working as a designer for three years but has already designed five cars. Jason Hill, a former designer for Porsche who now teaches automotive design at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, Calif., says Chinese auto makers now sponsor ArtCenter programs and actively hire its students, many of whom are from China. Putting a foreign design chief on the payroll is no magic bullet, and some Chinese auto makers are guilty of “using these foreign names to gain credibility” without really empowering them to create a brand, said Mr. Hilton.

Source: www.wsj.com