Another Peugeot Designer for Renault
Renault has found a successor for Gilles Vidal. Alexandre Malval will take over the design tables at Renault. He is not unknown to Renault and – just like his predecessor – also not to Peugeot.
Top designer Gilles Vidal worked for a long time at PSA Group behind the design tables, but over the past five years at Renault as Vice President of Design, he had a major influence on Renault designs. Not so strange then that in the design of cars like the Renault Scenic and Rafale, some Peugeot influences can be seen. Vidal left mid this year and will now work in the studios of Stellantis. In a way, Vidal is back where he worked for a long time, as PSA Group was absorbed into Stellantis. Anyway: Renault has finally found a replacement for Vidal. He also has experience at Peugeot.
Alexandre Malval may call himself the new Vice President of Design at Renault. As head of the design department of car brand Renault, Malval only has Laurens van den Acker – Chief Design Officer of Renault Group – above him in the design hierarchy. The 55-year-old Malval started his career in 1993 at Renault and moved to Volkswagen three years later. From 2001 to 2009, Malval worked for Citroën, and from 2009 to 2012, he held the role of Design Manager at Peugeot. From 2012 to 2018, he was Design Director at Citroën and held that position until recently at Mercedes-Benz International Design Center.
Will Renaults soon get some design influences from Peugeot again? Or this time from Citroën or perhaps Mercedes-Benz? We naturally don’t assume so for now, although his influence will certainly be visible in future Renaults.