DENZA: the story behind ‘a new automotive premium’

• Design Director Wolfgang Egger’s insight into the themes and story behind new brand and how it will connect emotionally with customers
• How silk influences the shape and surfacing of DENZAs, and the importance of making it work with a high-performance vehicle

DENZA is making its debut in the European market at the Brera Design Week in Milan. But the brand already has strong historical connections to Europe, and the team defining its image and design is led by German Wolfgang Egger, one of the world’s leading automotive designers of the past 30 years.

To mark DENZA’s European debut, Wolfgang Egger answers key questions on the background of DENZA, the stories and themes that drive its design, and how he believes it will work in Europe and connect with European customers by defining a ‘new automotive premium’.

Q:   Can you give us an idea of how you redefine automotive premium?
A (Wolfgang Egger): This is a very deep question indeed, but it is at the heart of the entire DENZA project, yes. We want to build up a brand and you simply can’t do that by creating a car, putting it out there and saying it’s premium. A brand starts with a mission, and in the case of DENZA, this is all focused on elegance in motion. It’s from this that we take the story that guides us – not only me, when I’m explaining why we have a line here or there on a vehicle, but also an emotional story that you can feel, without any words, when you see the car, or own the car, or drive the car. Then you feel these things that you can see and touch, and also imagine, like your fantasy. Only if you get all of these things going in one direction, and the customer feels comfortable with it and engages with it, will you really get a brand. To get this requires a lot of hard work, because at first we need coherence.

Q: Coherence? Is this really such a key element?
A: Absolutely. In every detail, in every line, in every material, in every colour – everything! It all needs to fit in this mission. As an example, we have a department now for design quality, that is checking day by day the models and all of the shut lines, the separations, the materials, the combinations of these materials and surfaces. Let’s take something in the interior, such as a chrome liner – you can have as little of 0.3 millimetres difference in the section [thickness] of an item and it can make the difference between it looking cheap and expensive. This attention to detail is part of the process that you have to be committed to and we are doing it; in the team we have young people, designers and modellers and they are growing very well, learning the DNA of these elements.

Q: You’ve referenced silk in the surfacing of DENZA. Can you explain how this manifests itself in how the cars actually look?
A: It’s how it flows, how it falls when it is covering something. Take a sculpture, or a vehicle like the DENZA Z9GT, and cover it in silk. Then take the same item and cover it with cotton. You know what happens: the silk falls naturally and covers the body but still shows, under the surface, the beauty of what is already there. Another beauty that silk has is the natural colours. The material has such heritage and its colours are already thousands of years old – colours that will never disappear, will always be beautiful. Then there’s the surface itself; just touch silk and you feel, well... there’s no discussion. It is just one of the best things to touch, in your life.

Q: So how do you take this flowing surface treatment and still make it work with a car such as, for example, the DENZA Z9GT, which has incredibly high performance? Form has to support the vehicle’s function, correct?
A: Definitely. And this is a challenge, just as it has always been a challenge in design. In fact, good design always integrates and takes care of the aerodynamics. It is not a contrast, or something else; it is part of design, just as beauty is part of design. Function is part of our passion for the job, too.

Q: How do you maintain and nurture DENZA’s European roots and ensure their influence in models from that location?
A: The team is international, and the spirit is international. I can assure you that the design centre is full of passion for cars, loving the challenge of creating the next generation of cars and mobility. We are now 1,200 all together, so it’s a big team, but we’re like a big family, very close together. It’s almost like a university, in fact; there’s continuous discussion about subjects like design, materials, colours, what customers are liking in different countries. But my experience that I’ve learned over these years is that beauty is beauty. It’s an old cliché to say that in some markets, customers want lots of chrome or decorations on their vehicles. The truth is somewhere in between; chrome can be a subtle decoration to enhance the beauty of the car.

Q: Is that also part of resisting trends and fads that might age quickly? True elegance is timeless, isn’t it?
A: Yes, and there are some rules in design – just as in architecture. Every line, every graphic, every surface must have a relationship together and make sense. You cannot just take a line and put it somewhere; it has to have a beginning and an end, and interact with the rest of the car, the aerodynamics, everything. True lines enhance the beauty of the sculpture; it’s like if you have a good suit and it ends up dressing you, so it shows you better than you.

Q: Finally, are there any elements on the Z9GT and DENZAs in general that you are particularly proud of, or which really show the combined strengths of the design team and engineering?
A: I am looking forward to explaining the surfaces of the vehicle, because the special touches there are added by designers and modellers working together on a physical sculpture of the car. We also use computer-aided design, of course, but a computer has one perception and human hands have another perception. I’m excited to show how our brilliant team has translated all of this into the surfaces of the Z9GT’s body. Moving inside the car, we worked incredibly hard on the sound experience. We have this dynamic loudspeaker in the centre of the instrument panel, giving you a visual experience as well as an aural one. The air vents are electrical too, so you operate by touch and the direction of the airflow is regulated. You can just touch, put your position or close and open, and it does this electrically and automatically. And of course, materials. We have wood in the doors, and it’s very natural, of course, but we worked especially hard on the surface, which is a matt silk – another example, I would say, of where you’ll be able to physically feel our inspiration for the car, as well as enjoying the Z9GT.