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| '''Patrick le Quément''' (born 4 February, 1945 in Marseille) is a French car designer, currently chief designer of [[Renault]].
| | #REDIRECT [[Patrick le Quément]] |
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| Born in France but bought up in the United Kingdom, Le Quément holds a BA Hons. degree in Product Design from Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, and an MBA from Danbury Park Management Centre.
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| Le Quément joined [[Simca]] of France in 1966 after graduation, but left and set up his own design business which failed <ref>[http://www.itv-motoring.com/features/people/659.asp ITV Motoring]</ref>. He returned to England and [[Ford]] in 1968 as a designer, where his signature products included the [[Ford Cargo]] [[truck]], and from Dusseldorf 1982's seminal [[Ford Sierra]], ridiculed at the time for its jelly-mold shape. Promised promotion, he went to Detroit but returned to Europe in June 1985 when [[Carl Hahn]], Chairman of the [[Volkswagen]]-[[Audi]] Group, invited him to set up a centre for Advance Design and Strategy <ref>[http://www.europaacademy.com/europa_advisoryboard_patricklequement.htm Accademy of Automotive Excellence]</ref>.
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| In light of poor and declining sales, Renault then-chairman and CEO Raymond Levy recruited le Quement on a hunch that French design could jump-start the company. But before he took the job as Vice President, corporate design in 1987, le Quement demanded structural changes in the role of design at Renault, telling Levy: his department would no longer answer to engineering; outside consultants were removed; the design team was doubled to more than 350 people; the department took a seat on the executive board; and personally, le Quement answers to no one but the chairman <ref>[http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/89/business-at-its-best.html fast Company]</ref>.
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| His team's products since have included [[Renault Twingo|Twingo]], [[Renault Megane|Mégane]] and [[Renault Megane|Mégane II]] - which he later admitted in an interview with Automotive News Europe magazine, was too much of a bold design; [[Renault Scenic|Scénic]]; the [[Renault Espace|Espace]] models of 1994 and 1998; [[Renault Kangoo|Kangoo]]; [[Renault Laguna|Laguna]] models of 1994; [[Renault Avantime|Avantime]] and the [[Renault Vel Satis|Vel Satis]] of 2002.
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| Le Quément's motto is '''Design = Quality''', and says his structural changes of Renault design were to develop an independent and innovative formal language: ''"Up to just a few years ago, I would have given you the name of individual products - but today I would be more inclined to say Renault Design. So basically we have abandoned what I call 'styling esperanto', namely the formal language used by most other manufacturers"'' <ref>[http://www.raymondloewyfoundation.com/luckystrike/pastwinners/lequement.html Raymond Loewy Foundation]</ref>.
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| In 1987 Le Quément was appointed Senior Vice President of Quality and Corporate Design in 1995, when he also joined the Renault Management Committee. He is the head of Joint Design Policy Group formed by [[Renault]]-[[Nissan]] design body, since it was founded in 1999.
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| In 2002 he was the winner of the Lucky Strike Designer Award <ref>[http://www.raymondloewyfoundation.com/luckystrike/pastwinners/lequement.html Lucky Strike Designer Award]</ref>, and he sits on the board of the Europa Accademy for Automotive Excellence <ref>[http://www.europaacademy.com/europa_advisoryboard_patricklequement.htm Accademy of Automotive Excellence]</ref>.
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| ==References==
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| <references/>
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| ==External links==
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| *[http://www.renault.com/renault_com/fr/main/10_GROUPE_RENAULT/40_Management/30_Comite_de_direction_Renault/trombinoscope/Cards/le_Quement_Patrick.aspx Official Renault Bio in French] and [http://www.renault.com/renault_com/en/main/10_GROUPE_RENAULT/40_Management/30_Comite_de_direction_Renault/trombinoscope/Cards/Le_Quement_Patrick.aspx English]
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| *[http://www.renault.co.uk/NMNewsItemDisplay.aspx?nid=9&nc=43 Renault.co.uk interview re early life and design]
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| *[http://www.ae-plus.com/Key%20topics/kt-design-news6.htm Interview re concept of "Fluence"]
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| *[http://www.raymondloewyfoundation.com/luckystrike/pastwinners/lequement.html Citation re winning the Lucky Strike Designer Award]
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| [[Category:car designers|Le Quément, Patrick]]
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| [[Category:Ford designers|Le Quément, Patrick]]
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| [[Category:Renault|Le Quément, Patrick]]
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