Ralph R. Debbas (born 1987) is a Lebanese automotive

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

, designer, and businessman. He is best known as the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of W Motors, which he founded in 2012, and the designer of the Lykan HyperSport.

Early life and education

Debbas was born in Lebanon in 1987 to a family of industrialists. Debbas studied

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

and began to study graphic design at the

Lebanese American University The Lebanese American University (LAU; ) is a secular private American university with campuses in Beirut, Byblos, and New York. It is chartered by the board of regents of the University of the State of New York and is recognized by the Lebane ...

. He quit his graphic design course to study automotive design, which he studied with

honours Honour (Commonwealth English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is a quality of a person that is of both social teaching and personal ethos, that manifests itself as a code of conduct, and has various elements such as valo ...

Coventry University Coventry University is a Public university, public research university in Coventry, England. The origins of Coventry University can be linked to the Coventry School of Art and Design, Coventry School of Design in 1843. It was known as Lancheste ...

after turning down an offer from the

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...

in the USA.

Career in the automotive industry

Before starting development of W Motors, Debbas worked as a designer for

Land Rover Land Rover is a brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by British multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR builds Land Rovers in Brazil ...

and

Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC () is a British manufacturer of Luxury car, luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Headed from 1947 by David Brown (entrepreneur ...

. In 2009, Debbas launched Wolf Design and Innovation Group (WDI Group), of which he was listed as Executive Head of Design. WDI Group worked on a variety of projects including boats, furniture and interior design, consumer goods, and graphic/web design, and was active in Beirut and Paris.

He began development of W Motors and design of the Lykan in 2006, and in 2008 had several design projects sponsored by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. W Motors was officially founded in 2012 with the launch of the Lykan HyperSport. It is the first Middle Eastern car manufacturer, making Debbas the first automotive executive in the Middle East. According to Debbas, the Lykan HyperSport was deliberately extravagant because: He contributed to the design of the ICONIQ Model 7. The Fenyr SuperSport followed with production beginning in 2018, but was not designed by Debbas. Debbas launched the W Motors consultancy division in 2019, which now makes up 70% of the company's business. As of 2020, he owns shares and is a director of W Motors Automotive Group Holding Limited. He continues as the CEO and chairman of W Motors S.A.L.

Views on the automotive industry

Debbas has often spoken on the future of the transportation industry, particularly the impact of automation and electrification on vehicle ownership and manufacture. Debbas believes that electrification of cars will become widespread and that as the development of self-driving technology advances, traditional car ownership will decline to the point were road transport is provided in a manner he compares to airlines: the role and importance of manufacturers will decline, and cars will be owned by providers. Because of this, he predicts his son Karl (born 2016) will never need to or may be unable to own a car or hold a

driver's license A driver's license, driving licence, or driving permit is a legal authorization, or the official document confirming such an authorization, for a specific individual to operate one or more types of motorized vehicles—such as motorcycles, ca ...

. He has stated that the Middle East has great potential for a local automotive industry, but lack of relevant knowledge in the region is a limiting factor.

Awards

Debbas has been the recipient of several business and design awards during his career.

Personal life

Debbas has an extensive personal collection of cars produced in the 1990s.

References

External links

W Motors official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Debbas, Ralph 1987 births Chief executives in the automobile industry Lebanese chairpersons of corporations Lebanese business executives Lebanese chief executives Emirati people of Lebanese descent Alumni of Coventry School of Art and Design Living people Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Missing middle or first names Lebanese company founders Founders of automobile manufacturers Lebanese American University alumni Alumni of Coventry University