Dirk van Braeckel

Born in Deinze,[1] after leaving school, van Braeckel studied electrical engineering,[2] before joining Ford as an apprentice car designer in Cologne, West Germany.

[1] Ford then agreed to sponsor him undertake a degree in car design at the Royal College of Art, London.

[4] In 1993, Volkswagen Group boss Ferdinand Piëch personally chose him to be the design head for Volkswagen's newly purchased Škoda Auto division, where he revised the entire model line-up,[3] designing the Octavia and Fabia models.

[1] After Volkswagen purchased Bentley in 1998 from Vickers plc, van Braeckel joined the British-based company in August 1999 as Director of Design and Styling.

[5] In 2007, van Braeckel was awarded the laureate of Antwerp's Christophe Plantin Prize, which honours Belgian citizens whose cultural, artistic or scientific activities contribute to the country's prestige abroad.