Derek Jenkins is an American automobile designer. He is currently the senior vice president of design and brand at

Lucid Motors Lucid Group, Inc. is an American electric vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Newark, California. The company was founded in 2007. Deliveries of the Dream Edition launch versions were made available to the first group of 520 reservation hold ...

. He is known for his contribution to the design of the Mazda MX-5 (fourth generation) as well as the

Lucid Air The Lucid Air is a battery electric car produced and marketed by Lucid Motors. Unveiled in December 2016, it is designed to compete with existing brands in the electric vehicle (EV) industry, in particular the Tesla Model S Plaid, the Fisker ...

Biography

Jenkins was born in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He attended the

ArtCenter College of Design Art Center College of Design (stylized as ArtCenter College of Design) is a private art college in Pasadena, California. History ArtCenter College of Design was founded in 1930 in downtown Los Angeles as the Art Center School. In 1935, Fred ...

, where he received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in transportation design. Jenkins spent eight years with

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. Th ...

, serving first as lead exterior designer, followed by assistant chief designer for Audi Design. He was the principal exterior designer of the A2 concept and production cars, as well as the 2002

Audi A8 The Audi A8 is a full-size luxury sedan manufactured and marketed by the German automaker Audi since 1994. Succeeding the Audi V8, and now in its fourth generation, the A8 has been offered with both front- or permanent all-wheel drive—and in s ...

. Jenkins then spent nine years as the chief designer for Volkswagen North America, where he is credited with several vehicles including the Scirocco concept, Ragster, Microbus concept, VW GX3 and Concept T. Jenkins then became director of design at

Mazda , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (nearly one m ...

North America Operations, where he oversaw all design developments locally and globally. He was the lead designer of the Mazda MX-5 (fourth generation), which was the

World Car of the Year The World Car Awards (formerly World Car of the Year, WCOTY) is a group of automobile ''Car of the Year'' awards selected by a jury of 82 international automotive journalists from 24 countries. Cars considered must be sold in at least five countr ...

and World Car Design of the Year in 2016. He was the lead or contributing designer to the Shinari concept, CX-5,

Mazda6 The Mazda6 (known as the Mazda Atenza in Japan and China, derived from the Italian '' attenzione'') is a mid-size sedan produced by Mazda since 2002, replacing the long-produced Capella/626. The Mazda6 was marketed as the first example of the co ...

Mazda3 The Mazda3 (known as the Mazda Axela in Japan (first three generations), a combination of "accelerate" and "excellent") is a compact car manufactured by Mazda. It was first introduced in 2003 as a 2004 model, replacing the Mazda Familia, Familia ...

, and the 2017 CX-9. In 2015, Jenkins left Mazda to join

(at the time named Atieva). As the senior vice president of design and brand, he oversees all design developments, including exterior and interior design, user experience, color and material, accessories, and the overall design strategy, along with Peter Rawlinson. Jenkins also leads Lucid's brand creative and brand strategy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, Derek Living people American automobile designers Year of birth missing (living people)