Audi has a new boss of exterior design.

The VW Group has made significant changes to the structure of its premium brands. Seeking better efficiencies, without diluting the individual brands, there have been some key personnel changes.

Audi is the latest VW sub-brand to see a notable staff announcement. The German luxury vehicle company, and one of VW’s greatest profit sources, announced in early January, that its head of exterior design is moving to Bentley.

The replacement for Andreas Mindt has now been confirmed, and it is a 41-year old: Philipp Römers. After design stints at Mercedes-Benz and VW, Römers has been with Audi since 2014.

His most distinguished Audi projects are the current A6 and A8 luxury sedans. But Römers is perhaps best known, for his work as an exterior designer on VW’s iconic Golf 7 and current Passat.

With a portfolio and product experience that is mostly in the sedan and hatchback vehicle configurations, it will be interesting to see how Römers influences Audi’s growing range of crossovers and SUVs.

His most recent work, before being promoted to head of exterior design, was Audi’s E-tron GT. There have been murmurs of discontent from design-minded critics, that Audi is relying too heavily on elaborate and oversized grilles to give its vehicles identity.

Philipp Römers will be keen to bring a sense of the classic Audi purity back to the brand’s design language. One of his first projects, after joining Audi, was the company’s elegant and excellently proportioned Prologue coupe, which debuted at the 2015 Los Angeles auto show.

If Römers can channel some of the Prologue’s style into Audi’s future offerings, the brand’s design standingis sure to return.

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