After finishing his education in 1981 at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, CA, Davis started his career in the European branch of General Motors: at Opel in Rüsselsheim, he worked on the interiors of the Vectra A, the Omega A and the Corsa B.
[1] From 1990 until 1999, Davis worked for Fiat Auto in Turin, amongst others on the interiors of the 1993 Punto, Bravo/Brava, Barchetta, Seicento, and the 1998 Multipla.
[2] For the Multipla, of which he oversaw the total design and of which he was named as one of the spiritual fathers,[3] he followed the MAYA philosophy of Raymond Loewy: 'Most Advanced, Yet Acceptable'.
He worked on interiors for Cadillacs, Pontiacs, Chevrolets, Buicks, Saturn, GMC, and Suzuki.
[6] Davis specialized in car interiors because he sees them as a bigger challenge than exteriors.