THE MAN BEHIND DESIGN
An interview with product design & development engenier John Pettinger
HOW LONG HAVE YOU WORKED FOR EXMOOR TRIM, AND WHAT DID YOU DO BEFORE
I’ve been working at Exmoor Trim for just over a year. Before starting here I was running a small precision engineering company specialising in one-off and small batch parts for the automotive and aerospace industries. I was also doing some design and development work for Exmoor Trim.
YOUR DREAM LAND ROVER
I really like the look of the new Range Rover Velar. Very clean simple design with lots of innovation and unmistakably a Range Rover.
WHAT PRODUCT DESIGN ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF
I am very happy with the new Elite Sports Seat. This was a very complex design challenge as we wanted to use the original Defender seat frame to allow the seat to bolt in using the existing fixing points. The one-piece injection moulded back shell took a long time to develop. It was an extremely complex part to design due to the restrictions placed on us by the seat frame and the vehicle itself. I think the end result is a very practical and visually striking seat.
WHAT’S IN THE PIPE-LINE?
We have quite a few projects at various stages of development and prototyping. We have a new folding load area seat frame which we will be crash testing over the next couple of months. We are also working on some new machined aluminium trim parts to add to our current range of gear knobs and door handles. We have a new locking cubby box in development, and hope to launch this in the autumn.
MOST EXCITING PRODUCT WE WILL SEE IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS
The new load area seat is definitely the most exciting thing we are currently working on but there are lots of other great things in the pipeline.
WHERE WILL DESIGN BE IN 5 YEAR’S TIME AT EXMOOR TRIM
We have big plans to expand the whole product range to include complete interior trim packages. We are also looking at external vehicle parts as well.
