![Schaffer to lead BMW's California design studio [w/VIDEO]](http://www.niot.net/blog-images/schaffer-to-lead-bmws-california-design-studio-w-video.jpg)
BMW has announced that Laurenz Schaffer will be taking over as the president of its Newbury Park, California-based DesignworksUSA studio on December 1. Schaffer will be replacing Verena Kloos who has been running the facility for the past five years. Kloos is moving back to Germany to run Department of Context Design and Advanced Development for the Werks.
The California studio was launched in 1972 by designer Chuck Pelly and purchased by BMW in 1995. Over the years, Designworks has been responsible for products ranging from coffee makers, to HP printers to Embraer business jet interiors and yachts. They've also done some work on cars as well. The current generation Z4 and the original X5 were both born out to the California facility.
Designworks also has two smaller satellite studios in Munich and Singapore. Schaffer has actually been running the Munich studio since 2000 so he knows the people there and how they work.
You might think that BMW's designers would be busy enough coming up with new segment-busting crossovers or toning down Chris Bangle's "flame-surfacing" design language, but they've found the time to dabble in naval architecture (to be fair, DesignworksUSA is an independently operated studio acquired by the BMW Group in 1995, but still...). The Munich office of the industrial design firm has been commissioned by Bavaria Yachtbau GmbH to come up with the 46-foot sport yacht you see here. The design compromises some of a speedboat's aquadynamics in favor of more space for the vessel's sun-worshipers, offering a spacious deck, a commodious cabin and more sun bathing space than Club Med. With any motoryacht of this size, propulsion options are left up to the customer, with each example made according to the buyer's specifications, so don't expect to see a marinized pair of the M5's V10 underneath the rear deck. The latest crossover between automotive design and naval architecture, this is BMW's second boat following the Zeydon Z60 sailing yacht.
