Alexander (Sasha) Selipanov, the man behind some world’s most exciting exterior luxury sports car designs, most notably Bugatti’s CHIRON—the fastest, most powerful super sports car in Bugatti history—joins Koenigsegg as Head of Design.

Christian von Koeingsegg and Sasha Selipanov, Koeingsegg autos
Christian von Koeingsegg and Sasha Selipanov

Founded by Christian von Koenigsegg (at the tender age of 22) in 1994, Koenigsegg set out to design “the perfect supercar.” In 1991, he invented a new solution for joining floor planks together without adhesive or nails, aptly named “Click.” A Belgian and a Swedish company would later patent the same solution as Christian’s Click floor–turning it into a multi-billion dollar industry, without Koenigsegg. But It was Jesko who took a young Christian von Koenigsegg to see the Pinchcliffe Grand Prix, the Norwegian animated film that inspired the dream that would become Koenigsegg Automotive.

The carbon-fiber tub chassis is the core of a Koenigsegg car. The Koenigsegg chassis a pre-impregnated carbon-fiber construction with an aluminum honeycomb core structure (the same as a chassis used in Formula 1). This allows for increased crash protection. It integrates the aluminum fuel tank into the tub chassis, inside the hollow box sections across the rear and along the right and left sills. This gives the fuel tank maximum protection and allows for optimal weight distribution. Long story short: it means that a Koenigsegg car is agile, resistant to twisting or flexing when under pressure (e.g. at 2g’s in a corner).

Koenigsegg sports car

Apart from developing, manufacturing and selling the Koenigsegg line of sports cars, Koenigsegg is also involved in developing “green technology” development programs, beginning with the CCXR (“Flower Power”) flex-fuel sports car, with the Jesko. Koenigsegg is also active in development plug-in electric car systems and next-generation engine technologies. Koenigsegg has also developed a camless piston engine which found its first application in the Regera, first introduced in 2015.

Koenigsegg develops and produces most of the main systems, subsystems, and components needed for their cars in-house instead of relying on subcontractors. At the end of 2015 Koenigsegg had 97 employees, with an engineering department of 25 engineers.

So, it makes sense that Selipanov, a graduate of Art Center College of Design graduate would join a brand that develops and builds its own record-breaking engines. After a brief stint at Lamborghini where he contributed to the Lamborghini Huracan and appointed Sasha Head of Exterior Design Creative at Bugatti and was responsible for the exteriors of the Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo and the Bugatti Chiron. As Head of Global Advanced Design at Genesis, Selipanov and his team worked on the most recent series of Genesis show cars, the Genesis Essentia, and Genesis Mint.

“This is a dream come true, Selipanov says,”. “I have followed Koenigsegg’s path for years and have been a huge fan of the company’s free spirit and commitment to innovation. In today’s world, Koenigsegg’s story and achievements are unparalleled; I am honored to offer my professional expertise and my lifelong passion for sports cars to Koenigsegg.”

Besides serving as Head of Design, Sasha will also serve as the Managing Director and Chief Designer at the established RAW Design House in Ängelholm, Sweden in October of this year. RAW Design House will offer a wide spectrum of design services to a select group of clients with Sasha at the helm.

“It shows how far Koenigsegg has progressed that we can attract talent like Sasha. I look forward to fusing the Koenigsegg way of developing and designing cars with Sasha’s experience and radical methods. I expect spectacular results,” said Christian von Koenigsegg, Founder, and CEO.