The KAHN® design studio

Design and manufacturing

The studio is open

For nearly thirty years, KAHN® has designed, engineered and manufactured to the standard of the world's great motor manufacturers. Much of that work was carried out for the manufacturers themselves, quietly, under NDA. Now the same studio is taking briefs from beyond its own marques.

KAHN® is known for the cars that carry its name. That is only half the story.

Alongside its own marques, the studio has spent decades working for and with vehicle manufacturers and engineering houses.


Where collaboration has been public, the company it keeps speaks for itself.

ASTON MARTIN
COSWORTH
INEOS

A coachbuilt body under assembly in the KAHN® workshop

Concept work, surfacing, feasibility, prototyping, production. Most of it commissioned in confidence and delivered under NDA, which is exactly how that world operates. The names on the work are rarely ours. The work is.

Discretion is not a limitation on the studio's reputation. It is the reason manufacturers keep coming back.

A body panel being finished by hand at the KAHN® workshop
Nearly 30
Years of design
and manufacture
9
Stages, first sketch
to launch
1
Roof, under which
everything happens
Worldwide
Trademark and design
registration

NOW TAKING
BRIEFS

The capability built over three decades is now available to a wider world.

Car makers, mobility companies, luxury houses and ambitious brands can commission the KAHN® studio directly. Bring a napkin sketch or a full programme. The studio takes a brief at any stage and carries it as far as it needs to go, from first line to finished, protected, production ready product.

The motive is larger than commerce. Britain has been designing and building world class vehicles for over a century, and KAHN® intends to keep that skill alive, in use and in the country. Every brief taken here is an investment in British innovation, and an opportunity created together.

Four disciplines

Most agencies design. Most factories build. Very few do both, and fewer still can protect and supply what they create. KAHN® is expert in all four.

Design

Drawn and resolved until a client can see exactly what they are commissioning, in Autodesk Alias, the software of the manufacturer design studios.

  • Automotive and vehicle design
  • Product design
  • Class-A surfacing in Alias
  • Interior design and trim
  • Pattern and surface detailing
  • 2D and 3D visualisation

Manufacturing

Design here is never a picture. It is a product, built.

  • Rapid prototyping
  • Tooling, testing and validation
  • Wheel engineering and manufacture
  • Low volume production
  • Hand finishing and quality control

Supply chain

A supplier network assembled and proven over decades, scaling a programme from a single prototype to series production without losing quality or control.

  • Sourcing
  • Production planning
  • Launch logistics
  • Series production scale-up

Intellectual property

Registered and protected before a penny is committed to tooling, as a stage of the process rather than an afterthought.

  • Brand and IP creation
  • International trademark registration
  • Design registration

The nine stages

Every commission, whatever its scale, moves through the same sequence. Clients may enter at any stage, or commission the journey entire.

9Stages

  1. Concept sketch

    The idea, drawn.

  2. 2D visualisation

    The idea, resolved.

  3. 3D CAD and surfacing

    The idea, made buildable.

  4. Engineering and analysis

    Proven on screen.

  5. Rapid prototyping

    Proven in hand.

  6. Physical testing

    Proven in the real world.

  7. IP registration

    Protected, worldwide.

  8. Tooling and manufacture

    Made, properly.

  9. Finishing and launch

    Delivered, and delivered well.

Afzal Kahn, Founder and Creative Director
We don't just design. We redefine.
Afzal Kahn Founder and Creative Director

The teams behind every commission span design, engineering, legal, marketing and operations, most with more than a decade at the studio.

Before you brief us

Do you only work on vehicles?

No. Vehicles are our heritage, but the studio designs and manufactures products, wheels, interiors and patterns, creates and protects brands, and takes all of them to market internationally.

Can we commission a single stage?

Yes. Some clients need surfacing alone, or a prototype, or an IP strategy. Others hand us a brief at stage one and collect a finished product at stage nine. Both are welcome.

Do you work under NDA?

Almost always. Confidentiality has been our default for decades and most of our client work has never been made public. Yours will be treated the same way, unless you would rather shout about it. Then we will help you do that too.

Who owns the intellectual property?

That is agreed in writing before work begins, and registration happens at stage seven, before any commitment to tooling. You will never discover an IP question after the money is spent.

Can you actually manufacture, or just design?

Both. Prototyping, tooling, production, finishing and quality control run in-house or through our established supply chain, under our management either way.

How do we start?

Send us a short outline of the idea, the category and your timescale. We will come back with an honest view on feasibility and a proposed route through the stages.

Commissions

Tell us what you want to build

Send a short outline of the idea, the category and your timescale. We will come back with an honest view on feasibility and a proposed route through the stages.

Studio
Albert Bridge, Cheyne Walk
Chelsea, London SW3 5HX