Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG announced that Tobias Sühlmann (46) will take over as Head of Design at Porsche from 1 February 2026. He succeeds Michael Mauer (63), who has been responsible for Porsche design for more than two decades.
Sühlmann comes from the British sports car manufacturer McLaren. He had been Chief Design Officer there since 2023. With this change, Porsche is undergoing a generational change.
Michael Mauer started in 2004 as the fourth Head of Design in Porsche?s long history. His predecessors were Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, Anatol Lapine and Harm Lagaay. Mauer studied automotive design at the Pforzheim University of Applied Sciences and came to Porsche via stations at Mercedes, Smart and Saab.
At the beginning of his tenure at Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, he was responsible for the revision of the Cayenne, the new Panamera and the 918 Spyder super sports car. Michael Mauer also transferred the unmistakable Porsche design into the electric age.
His more than two decades of work illustrate the exceptional position of the native of Hesse at Porsche.
