Volkswagen plots friendlier design direction with cars that "smile"

All Volkswagens in the future will “have a smile” in their front-end styling, as part of plans to make the brand’s cars more emotional, less serious and more friendly-looking. 

Speaking to Autocar, VW design chief Jozef Kaban said the ID Buzz marked the start of a new era of VWs that would be more fun and expressive in their styling, with each car given a smile. 

“This is fully emotional and an icon even before it hits the road,” said Kaban of the new ID Buzz. “Nobody is not excited by this product.

“We will be trying to do all cars with more emotion. It depends on the product, as not every car can have such a positive, friendly character, but one thing is clear: you will see more and more steps [towards more expressive VW design], and not just on EVs. All cars will get more emotions, and also more quality.”

A key priority of new VW CEO Thomas Schafer is for people to fall in love with the firm’s cars once more, and he sees design as a huge part of that.

“VW needs to be more friendly, not aggressive,” he told Autocar. “Aggressive fronts don’t work. Not all cars will be as friendly as Buzz but friendly will be one of our attributes for the future.”