Ford design chief pushes common global design

THE Ford Motor Co is developing a global design theme for its next-generation cars.

Styling chief J Mays will oversee a new common design language that will replace Ford of Europe’s current "kinetic" theme and Ford North America's three-bar grille.

"We feel we'll be able to get to a common design language that's bold, as it should be for the American market, and is absolutely applicable to the European market as well," Mays told US industry journal Automotive News.

Mr Mays said the work of merging Ford-brand design could take as long as seven years.