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Adjusting his fringe for the first time today, Van Hooydonk, 41, scoffs at the idea that BMW is turning its back on radicalism. "Maybe if this were another brand, we would rest on our laurels, but this is BMW. BMW is different. It is more modern, more forward looking. We always try to current BMW line-up, it's hard to see how this revolution can continue.

Take the 6-Series, it's an almost literal translation of Van Hooydonk's Z9 Gran Turismo concept car, down to the exaggerated boot lid, offset by soft, tear-drop alloys. Just how much wilder can BMW get? "Much," he says. "Anything is possible. We have not reached the end. Our imagination knows no boundaries and our creativity has no fear."

He's not going to build the 4x4 X-coupe concept car, is he? Van Hooydonk laughs so hard it looks like his fringe is about to fly off. "No. But there's plenty we can do in the future. We are always looking ahead, designing three years ahead of ourselves, shaping tomorrow."

One of the problems about designing tomorrow is that you are not allowed to talk about it. Not today, anyway. "We are working years ahead, and I could take you into the studio next door and show you everything, but you'd have to stay there until 2008," Van Hooydonk jokes.

What he can say is that since BMW started down the road of creating more individual-looking, distinctive cars, the consumer trend towards individualism has become even stronger.

"From fashion, to interiors, to music, people surround themselves with products that fit them, not some arbitrary retail category. They want to make a personal statement. We have to broaden our palette of design cues to cater for even more individualism. In the end we will create cars that are even more individualistic than the BMW 6-Series."

More individualistic than the 6? Quirkier than the Z4? You can almost hear the sound of software engineers putting the final touches to a 'Stop Adrian van Hooydonk' website, to complement the 'Stop Chris Bangle' site, which called for the controversial north American to be sacked. After suffering a mauling over his 7-Series, is Van Hooydonk prepared for the opprobrium which deepening BMW's design revolution will inevitably attract? He nods.