Karim Giordimaina knows the Opel design as well as hardly anyone else. Ever since graduating from college in the early 90s, he has been working for the Rüsselsheim-based carmaker. His early days saw him working on every aspect of the cars, including show cars, exteriors, interiors, and components. He later switched to the interior, after Opel eventually set up dedicated functions. Today, as Director Interior Design, Giordimaina leads more than 80 colleagues and is – amongst others – responsible for some of the unusual creatures hidden in Opel models.

Mr. Giordimaina, for several years we can find sharks in the Opel models. What’s the reason for this?

The history of our hidden sharks goes all the way back to 2004. Dietmar Finger, who at the time was the Interior Assistant Chief Designer of the Corsa Studio, was tasked with designing reinforcing ribs on the side of the glove box door to ensure the part’s stability. After a busy work week, one Sunday afternoon, he casually drew various shapes that might fit the purpose. As he sat there, his son walked up to him, looked at his sketch, and asked. “Papa, why don’t you just draw a shark?” Dietmar smiled, and thought to himself “Why not!” As soon as he was back in the Studio, he shared his idea with Niels Loeb, the Chief Designer of the Corsa, who immediately loved it. The shark in the glove box went into series production and that’s how the story of the ‘Opel sharks’ was born!

“Papa, why don’t you just draw a shark?”

How did this success story continue?

Today it’s almost like an inside culture. Each Interior Chief Designer, towards the end of the development of the car, lives the culture by hiding one or two sharks somewhere within the design of the interior. Where the shark is placed is entirely the Chief’s choice, and is never shared with Design’s Leadership. In fact, the location of the sharks is generally kept a secret all the way to the launch of the car. As a way of demonstrating the approachable side of our brand, we also started sharing the stories of our sharks with journalists during launch events, encouraging them to find the sharks hidden in the interior of the cars. Overtime, we actually started being approached by the press, who were eager to write stories about the sharks!

What’s so special about this culture?

It clearly shows not only how approachable our brand is, but more importantly that we also we have a sense of humour. There is definitely a strong sense of family in our team which is, in my view, well recognized across the industry. Opel is definitely a fantastic place to work! I’ve personally been here many years, and am always very proud of our culture, sense of team, and connection.