Porsche’s New Head of Design Tobias Sühlmann Talks the Mission S

No one can accuse Porsche’s new vice president of style, Tobias Sühlmann, of not jumping into his role at full tilt. After all, his first major assignment for the German marque was to design the Mission S, a concept that previews what will be just the fifth supercar in the marque’s history.

It’s hard to think of a more fraught way for a designer to introduce themself to the brand’s passionate fanbase. The 911 may be the marque’s most iconic model—and with good reason—but it hasn’t always sat atop its lineup. Since 1985, there have been four instances where the range-topping Porsche was a supercar, with each of these models, from the 959 to the 918 Spyder, viewed as one of the finest performance vehicles of its era. To bring yet another supercar into the fold was just the task Porsche CEO Michael Leiters gave Sühlmann shortly after he took up his post.

“Michael Leiters called me one Saturday night and said he can imagine that there is a mid-engine concept car that sits above a 911,” Sühlmann told Robb Report in one of his first English-language interviews on the night of the Mission S’s unveiling last week in New York.

Sühlmann had plenty of experience designing mid-engine supercars, though, something Leiters, who arrived at Porsche just a few months before him, would have been aware of. Prior to joining the automaker, Sühlmann served as McLaren’s head of design at the same time that Leiters was its head executive (during that time the former helped design the truly outrageous Solus GT). It also helped that Sühlmann saw the new supercar as an opportunity not just to design an important Porsche but also to lay out his vision for the brand going forward.

“You need to turn [a challenge] around into an opportunity,” he said. “And once it’s an opportunity, it’s not on your shoulders, it’s a gift. To do a car like [the Mission S] is amazing.”

If there was any worry that Sühlmann would misunderstand the brand, it was dispelled the moment the Mission S was unveiled. Yes, the concept may be a thoroughly modern supercar, but it is also very clearly a Porsche. Its stance, torpedo fenders, and “flyline” roof will be immediately familiar to anyone who’s ever gazed lovingly at a 911 or 718.

To Sühlmann, Porsche design can be distilled to three keywords: authentic, consequent, timeless. The Mission S may be a preview of a future production vehicle, but there is nothing fanciful about its design. The designer said every single exterior detail, from its sculptural shape to its visible 917-esque radiator fan, serves a purpose, something that has been true of the marque’s cars dating all the way back to the 356.

As head-turning as the concept’s exterior may be, its interior is where Sühlmann was best able to wed the brand’s past with its future. The two-seat cabin has a minimalistic look that calls the automaker’s earliest cars, like the 550 Spyder, to mind. It’s also refreshingly clear of the screens that crowd so many of today’s dashboards. There is a digital gauge cluster tucked behind the steering wheel, as well as a retractable MagSafe smartphone stand that the designer says is for those who want access to Apple CarPlay and Google Maps. One thing the cabin does have, though, is a variety of physical controls, including a specially designed key.

“You have an interior that is so clean and so simple that you can focus on driving,” Sühlmann said. “The purpose is the driving experience.”

Of course, the Mission S, as important as it may be, is far from the only project that will cross Sühlmann’s desk. Porsche’s head designers tend to stick around for a long time, with the automaker having employed just four prior to Sühlmann’s arrival, including his immediate predecessor, Michael Mauer, who was with the company for more than two decades. As such, Sühlmann will eventually work on the marque’s entire lineup of cars, like its popular SUVs. His time at Volkswagen and Bentley, where he helped design a wide variety of vehicles, has helped prepare him for his new gig.

“I have designed a lot of mid-engine cars, but I also designed cars like the Passat or Touareg as well,” he said. “Every car has different needs.”

It’s still early in Sühlmann tenure, but if the Mission S is anything to go by, fans of Porsche supercars, sports cars, and SUVs have plenty to look forward to.

Click here to see more photos of the Tobias Sühlmann-designed Mission S.