Chris Bangle, BMW’s head of group design, has quit in order to follow his own 'deign related endeavours beyond the motor industry’.

Bangle has overseen the launch of the current 1, 3, 5 and 7-series saloons and hatchbacks, as well as the raft of niche models that have seen BMW's model range explode in recent years: the Z3, Z4, Z8, X3, X5, X6 and 6-series were all conceived on his watch.

He will be replaced by Adrian van Hooydonk, head of BMW Automobile Design.