Santa Barbara AHEPA Chapter 243

Subject: Vicki Vlachakis GM Designer







She is the probable speaker at the Symposium at the Ahepa Convention in SF. Do you know who she is?

Vicki Vlachakis

Growing up in Pasadena, California, Vicki Vlachakis was always fascinated by design. She loved to draw and enrolled herself in Saturday art school classes when she was 15 years old. She loved the 3-D aspect of product design specifically, and soon found herself drawing cars all the time for fun. Even though her parents are Greek, Vicki may not have known that the “auto” in the word automobile is from the Greek language. She did know she loved cars though. Drawing cars was more than a hobby to Vicki; it was a passion.

After an internship at Audi Design in Ge rmany, where she learned a great deal about designing vehicle interiors, Vicki graduated from the Transportation Design Art Center in Pasadena in 1995. Soon thereafter, Vicki was offered a job in Stuttgart, Germany with Mercedes Benz’s Advanced Design Studio. She jumped at the opportunity to return to Europe and learn even more about global trends in advanced car design.

In 2000, General Motors recruited Vicki to join GM’s Advanced Design Studio in California. Vicki had heard about GM’s renaissance through design and taking part in this turnaround intrigued her. Thrilled to be back in California, Vicki flourished at her new job. She soon became GM’s Design Manager and played a key role in the highly acclaimed 2002 Solstice Concept and the 2003 Chevy SS Concept. Her most prized achievements, however, are the 2006 Pontiac Solstice and the 2007 Saturn Sky. Vicki points out that those cars “both have a purity of design that we worked hard to preserve. It's about taking the initial theme that everyone was excited about and refining it until it rolls of the assembly line.” Apparently car buyers agree–these hot-selling convertible roadsters are flying out of GM showrooms across the country.

At just 32 years of age, Vicki has already accomplished many of her life0s ambitions. But her talents don’t stop with design. Vicki is fluent in German and Greek. She is also an accomplished sports enthusiast who loves to surf, snowboard, ski and hike. But at the end of the day, she still loves to open her favorite fashion magazines to look at the latest runway trends – paying close attention to the latest designs. For Vicki, “automotive design has a lot to do with dramatic shapes, perfect proportion, and jewelry-like detailing.”