Breaking: Franz von Holzhausen to Tesla Motors as design director!

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Mazda, Tesla Motors, USA

Click above for more shots of the Mazda Furai concept

We’ve received confirmation from both Darryl Siry and Mike Bumbeck at Tesla Motors that Franz von Holzhausen, the designer who since February of 2005 oversaw the design and development of all concept and production vehicles for Mazda North America, has moved on to the EV startup, where he will be the Design Director. This move is an interesting one, as he was reportedly ‘hand-picked’ by Elon Musk for the job. Considering just how awesome the Furai concept from the last Detroit Auto Show was with its E100 fueled three rotor Wankel engine, we think Tesla’s got a good one on their hands here.

Right out of the gate, von Holzhausen will need to assemble a team of designers who will then likely get right to work on Tesla Motor’s next batch of electric cars. This hiring also means that Tesla’s future designs will all be created in-house, ending the need to bring in outsiders like the company had to do with Henrik Fisker. We all know how that turned out.

Gallery: Detroit 2008: Mazda Furai concept