INGOLSTADT (dpa-AFX) - Audi is bringing the chief designer of Jaguar Land Rover, Massimo Frascella, to Ingolstadt. Frascella will succeed Audi Chief Designer Marc Lichte in June, the Volkswagen subsidiary announced on Thursday.

The 52-year-old Frascella is a graduate of the Turin Design Institute, started his career at Bertone, then worked at Ford, Kia and the Land Rover brand, which belongs to the Indian Tata Group, where he most recently became Head of Design for Jaguar and Land Rover. His passion is simplicity and "design without superfluous ornamentation", said Frascella. "And I'm here to drive creativity as part of the brand essence."

With cars becoming increasingly autonomous, the industry is expecting fundamental changes in design. Audi recently anchored its design department directly under the CEO.

Marc Lichte will take on new tasks within the Group, Audi announced. The 55-year-old from Sauerland studied design in Pforzheim, started at Volkswagen in 1996 and has been Head of Audi Design since February 2014. For him, the Audi e-tron Gran Tourismo presented three years ago is "the most beautiful car I have ever had the pleasure of designing." /rol/DP/men