Bentley designer critical of Lincoln Continental resigns

Jun 5, 2015, 10:50am ET

Following a dust up with Lincoln, Bentley has a new design head.

Luc Donckerwolke, the designer who publicly shamed the Lincoln Continental concept as a blatant Bentley Flying Spur knock off, has resigned from his post as Director of Design at Bentley.

The details surrounding Donckerwolke's departure remain a mystery at this point, with Bentley only saying that he "decided to leave the business” and Bentley parent Volkswagen. Although unsubstantiated, it's possible that Donckerwolke's outburst over the Lincoln Continental was at least partially responsible for his ouster.

In March of this year Donckerwolke took to Facebook to chide the design of the Continental concept. "I would have called it Flying Spur concept and kept the four round lights,” he posted. Donckerwolke also got into a digital spat with Lincoln chief designer David Woodhouse, sarcastically asking "Do you want us to send the product tooling?” on Woodhouse's personal Facebook page.

Whatever the reason for his departure, Donckerwolke will be succeeded by Stefan Sielaff, who is currently Head of Volkswagen Group Interior Design and Design Director at Volkswagen Design Center Potsdam. Sielaff has been with VW for more than 25 years, with most of that time spent at the automaker's Audi division.

"Bentley is entering one of the most important phases in the company's history, with significant plans for new models,” Wolfgang Dürheimer, Chairman and CEO at Bentley Motors, said. "With his experience, creative vision and passion for the Bentley brand Stefan Sielaff is perfectly placed to lead the design of our future models.”

Photos by Drew Johnson.