Martin Smith (designer)

Martin Smith is a retired automobile designer, noted for extensive stints at Audi, Opel and Ford of Europe.

Born in 1949 in Broomhill, Sheffield, England, Smith attended King Edward VII School. A car fanatic since he was a boy, he wrote letters to Mini designer Alec Issigonis asking how to become a car designer and received kindly and encouraging replies. He studied Engineering at the University of Liverpool before graduating with a master's degree in vehicle design from the Royal College of Art in London.

Having begun his career at Porsche in 1973 which also included a short stint working on commercial vehicles for Ogle Design in Letchworth, Smith moved to Audi in 1977, then briefly to BMW only to return to Audi where he would remain for the majority of the 1980s and 1990s. At Audi he transformed the mundane Audi Coupe into the legendary Audi Quattro and subsequently became Head of Audi's Munich Design Studio. He helped introduce a slippery aerodynamic look and austere functional cockpits to the Audi range as evidenced by the 1982 Audi 100 and 1986 Audi 80. Whilst in charge of the Audi Munich Design Studio, he worked with J Mays on the 1991 Audi Avus Quattro concept car which previewed a geometrical style as well as the extensive use of aluminium. His last position at Audi was the Head of Interior Design where he oversaw and developed the first generation Audi TT interior.

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