Five Questions: Gilles Vidal (Peugeot)

We sat down for an exclusive chat with Peugeot’s Director of Style, Gilles Vidal, who is responsible for many of the breathtaking concepts seen at the world’s big motor shows. Vidal currently operates out of the Peugeot-Citroen facility at Velizy-Villacoublay, near Paris.

Cars.co.za: Who is Gilles Vidal?

GV: I started as a car designer in 1996 for Citroen after attending art/design school. I originally worked as an exterior designer, but I did a bit of interior too. I became a design manager and worked on many projects. In 2004 I became head of concept cars and advanced design for Citroen. Between 2004 and 2008/2009 I did many concepts and helped with advanced thinking and design. I inherited the full Citroen design portfolio and was offered the Director of Design position for Peugeot in January 2010.

Cars.co.za: The design and small size of the Peugeot steering wheel has been a discussion point amongst journalists and petrolheads alike. What are the benefits of the smaller wheel as opposed to a conventionally-sized wheel?

GV: Actually the small wheel gives more control, but its not everybody’s opinion. We’re car professionals and we’re used to the bigger wheel. We have to keep in mind that clients are not like us. They don’t drive like us on test tracks and for the every day driver and on long distances, you don’t want your arms positioned so high so you don’t need the bigger wheel. It’s just better ergonomics.

Cars.co.za: How far in advance are you working?

GV: Right now we’re working on cars to come out in 2022. What we’re doing is not set in stone, we keep it open for as long as possible so we can adapt as close as possible to the deadline.

Cars.co.za: As a designer, what inspires you outside of the car world? Do you look at brands of television and think ‘that’s nice!’?

GV: You’re right. It’s not just TVs though and most of the designers here hang out at the concept stores, fashion shows and modern art exhibitions and all that feeds your creativity. There’s a theory about creative people: they have less inhibitions and filters, and get a lot more stimulus from things. It’s not direct inspiration and saying “Oh that’s a nice line and I will redo that on a car.” It’s more about creativity cultivation and translating things into something fresh and new.

Cars.co.za: How do you blend creative design flair with engineering reality? How many times have the engineers said to you, ‘that’s impossible?’

GV: Every day! (laughs) With experience we know what’s feasible or not, but we have to challenge the engineers to make something feasible. We have to keep pushing and proposing things that we know by experience are not feasible, because without that we would stop the creative machine. To that extent, we’re all designers in the company and an engineer should be a creative person anyway.