VW Designer Joins DaimlerChrysler

DaimlerChrysler scored a coup on Tuesday by hiring a top Volkswagen designer credited with developing the New Beetle and the Audi TT Coupe.

DaimlerChrysler, the world’s No. 5 auto maker, said it had hired Freeman Thomas, 41, as vice president of advance design strategy. He had been VW’s U.S. design studio chief in Simi Valley, where he led a team of 40 people.

Thomas, along with J Mays, designed some of VW’s hottest cars. Mays became Ford Motor Co.’s design chief in 1997.

“I’ve always admired what Chrysler had been doing in the last 10 years, and Chrysler has brought itself up from the bottom,” Thomas told Reuters.

The California native, who speaks German fluently, said the merger of Chrysler and Germany’s Daimler-Benz last year made the job opportunity even more attractive.

“What excites me about DaimlerChrysler is it takes risks,” said Thomas, who began his career at German luxury sports car maker Porsche in 1983 and joined VW in 1991.

Germans “really enjoy what the Americans have to bring to the table,” he added.

Thomas’ hiring is part of a shuffling of top design positions at DaimlerChrysler’s U.S. design studios. He will take one of the posts held by Neil Walling, 55, who is retiring today.

Walling also handled passenger car and minivan design, which Vice President Trevor Creed will now handle.

Replacing Creed as head of truck and Jeep design will be Rick Aneiros, who was promoted from within the company.