What Astheimer Design does

Astheimer Design (trading as Carsten Astheimer Ltd) is a UK-based multidisciplinary design consultancy founded in 2009 by Carsten Astheimer and headquartered in Warwick, England. The firm operates from a 400 sqm studio and workshop and delivers end-to-end design services covering concept generation, Class A surfacing, parametric design via Grasshopper algorithms, photoreal visualization, virtual reality, and in-house physical prototyping using 3D printing, 3D scanning, and a 6-meter milling machine. Its client base spans enterprise customers across automotive (Bentley, Nissan, Volta Trucks, Arctic Trucks, Newmar), marine (Sealine, Quicksilver/Brunswick, Uttern/Brunswick, Airstream), consumer electronics (Bullitt Group's CAT and Land Rover phones), furniture (Gloster, Koverton), and emerging electric and autonomous vehicle programmes (WMG, Prodrive, SO1O, Oxbotica, Edinburgh Instruments).

The business model is project-based professional services revenue earned through direct engagement with client design, engineering, and product teams, typically involving on-site collaboration and structured around discrete vehicle, product, or brand programmes. Go-to-market combines targeted presence at industry trade shows such as CES, the Geneva Motor Show, and Mobile World Congress with a website portfolio and published thought-leadership articles, generating inbound from within the transportation OEM and consumer electronics ecosystems. In 2024 the firm extended its model via the ELM Mobility joint venture with Prodrive, which moves a portion of activity from pure design services into co-developed electric vehicle manufacturing.

Revenue is generated through fixed-fee and retainer-style design engagements tied to discrete concept, development, or production milestones; no subscription, licensing, or recurring SaaS revenue model is in use. Pricing is enterprise project-based with no public rate card or per-employee benchmark disclosed, and contract values are not reported in the available data.

Name

Astheimer Design

Legal name

Carsten Astheimer Ltd

Website

https://astheimerltd.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Astheimer Design is a Warwick, UK-based multidisciplinary design consultancy founded in 2009 that delivers concept-to-prototype services across automotive, marine, consumer electronics, and furniture for global enterprise clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Design Services

NAICS

Industrial Design Services (54142), Industrial Design Services (541420), Other Specialized Design Services (54149)

akta.pro primary industry

Industrial/Product & Furniture Design (BPAHAKAM)

Keywords

• Industrial design services
• Transportation design
• Concept vehicle design
• Parametric design
• Product prototyping

Headquarters

HQ city

Warwick

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Design Consultancy Services: Professional design services including concept generation, design refinement, 3D development, surfacing, prototyping, and manufacturing assistance for automotive, marine, furniture, consumer electronics, and other sectors.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Astheimer Design is a B2B industrial design consultancy that delivers end-to-end product design services from initial concept and sketch ideation through Class A surfacing, parametric design, virtual reality review, and full-size physical prototyping. The studio serves OEMs and brands across automotive, marine, consumer electronics, and furniture sectors, with a particular specialism in transportation design.

Product overview

Astheimer Design is a UK-based world class design studio offering comprehensive design services including concept generation, class A surfacing, parametric design, photoreal visualization, VR design review, prototyping and model making. The studio works across diverse sectors (automotive, marine, consumer electronics, furniture) and has developed numerous notable projects including the Volta Zero electric truck, Aura and IMQ concept vehicles, Scooter+ micromobility vehicle, Deliver-E electric delivery prototype, Bentley Flying Spur parametric interior elements, CAT rugged phones, Land Rover Explore phone, and various marine boats and furniture collections. Services are delivered through an advanced studio with VR capabilities and a fully equipped workshop for physical prototyping.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Industrial Design Consultancy Services End-to-end product design services including concept ideation, sketch and rendering, Class A surfacing, parametric design, virtual reality review, and full-size physical prototyping for OEMs and brands across automotive, marine, consumer electronics, and furniture sectors.

Quantifiable outcome

• Sealine SC35 became fastest selling model in company history, selling 14 units on launch day and over 300 total
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers18 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• ELM Mobility (Prodrive JV)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Joint venture between Prodrive Advanced Technology and Astheimer Design to design, engineer and manufacture a last mile EV. ELM Mobility was founded to take the EVOLV demonstrator concept to production. Part of 10 ARMD2 projects receiving UK government support through APC.
• Volta TrucksflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2020Design and build partnership for Volta Zero - world's first purpose-built full-electric 16 tonne truck. Astheimer led the complete vehicle design from initial concept through production intent. This flagship project won Dezeen Product of the Year 2021 and established Astheimer as a key EV truck design partner.
• Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative project to design and build DELIVER-E electric delivery vehicle prototype in just 10 weeks. WMG provided advanced propulsion systems capabilities, Astheimer provided design and prototyping expertise. Demonstrated rapid development capability.
• PotenzacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered on Aura concept car project to define vehicle package and lightweight chassis for the all-electric long range concept vehicle.
• BAMDcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered on Aura concept car project to determine panel properties and detailing for the sustainable electric concept vehicle.
• ConjurecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered on Aura concept car project for electrical integration of HMI systems in the all-electric concept vehicle.
• Arctic TruckscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Arctic Trucks (seen on Top Gear) for creating vehicles that can tame harshest environments. Working on several projects heading into future motor shows. CEO Patrik von Sydow: 'We are excited to partner Astheimer design who have a wealth of transportation design and brand development experience.'
• Bullitt GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partnership for rugged phone design including Land Rover Explore phone (launched at Mobile World Congress) and multiple CAT phone models. Astheimer served as design partner bridging automotive design expertise with consumer electronics.
• Land RovercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on Land Rover Explore outdoor phone. Design translated automotive cues including front grill, headlamp architecture, and knurled finish into consumer electronics form factor.
• SO1OcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDesign partnership for SO1O bike - zero-emission pedal assist electric vehicle bridging gap between bicycles and cars. Quote from founder Jamie Richards praising Astheimer's 'unique ability to seamlessly blend form and function'.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Italdesign: Italian design and engineering consultancy offering concept-to-production vehicle development, prototyping and series production support. Direct comparable to Astheimer in transportation design services and end-to-end capability set.
• Gordon Murray Design: UK boutique supercar and automotive design consultancy, with in-house iStream manufacturing technology. Comparable small UK studio model working with global OEMs and low-volume programs, similar brand-defining principal-led culture.
• Bertone: Historic Italian transportation design house with a long OEM client roster across automotive and industrial design. Direct comparable on the design-consultancy model and global marquee client base, though currently operating at a different scale.
• Pininfarina: Italian transportation design house providing concept, styling and engineering services to global automotive OEMs (and now a carmaker in its own right). Closely comparable boutique industrial-design business model serving the same enterprise client base as Astheimer.
• EDAG: German engineering services firm providing vehicle development, prototyping and industrialization to global OEMs. Larger-scale comparable in transportation design and engineering services, with overlapping Class A surfacing and prototype competencies.
• Williams Advanced Engineering: UK-based engineering and design services business spun out of the Williams F1 team, providing low-volume manufacturing, EV and battery systems development to global OEMs and startups. Comparable boutique UK engineering/design services model serving automotive and motorsport clients.
• Lotus Engineering: UK-based vehicle engineering consultancy within the Lotus group providing design, development and prototyping services to global automotive clients. Direct peer on transportation design and full-vehicle prototyping capability.
• CALLUM: UK-based boutique automotive design house founded by Ian Callum, focused on full-vehicle and component design for OEMs and low-volume manufacturers. Strongest UK-headquartered peer with near-identical boutique, multi-sector transportation design profile.

Broad incumbents

• Capgemini Engineering: Global engineering and R&D services provider (formerly Altran) with deep automotive design and digital engineering practices. Comparable only at the broad-services level — much larger and more diversified, but a relevant incumbent competing for similar OEM design mandates.
• Tata Elxsi: India-headquartered design and technology services firm with a large automotive design practice (including vehicle styling and UX/HMI). Comparable design-services business model and transportation design offerings, but at significantly larger scale and broader portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/astheimerdesign

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Astheimer Design