As part of General Motors’ continued focus on further strengthening product development, it has opened a new European Design Center in Rüsselsheim, Germany. This new, world-class facility is housed in the center of GM’s Rüsselsheim campus and greatly expands GM’s European design operations to nearly 20,000 square-meters.

“Design is already one of the most crucial elements of our business and will continue to be in the future,” said Carl-Peter Forster, president of GM Europe. “Therefore, our new facility provides our designers with the location, atmosphere and tools they need to maximize the creative process and design our future vehicles.”

Nearly 350 people work in the growing design function in Rüsselsheim, creating the new products from Saab, Opel, Vauxhall and certain Saturns. This group also now includes GM Europe’s advanced design team.

“Having our advanced design operations in Rüsselsheim provides us a more direct link with advanced engineering and planning therefore maximizing synergies,” said Bryan Nesbitt, executive director of GM Design Europe. “In addition, the new, high-tech facility, enabling the right creative incubator, demonstrates GM’s continued recognition of design’s value to the development of our GM Europe brands.”

General Motors’ global Design organization is a multi-national team with eleven design centers around the world. The offices are linked via virtual reality studios and projects are shared around the globe. The organization is led by Ed Welburn, GM’s global vice president of design.

“The new GM Europe design center is an exciting addition to our global design enterprise,” said Welburn. “Our company truly has a passion for design, and this new facility will help secure our design relevance in the European region, and around the world, for years to come.”