Korean Hyundai owes a lot to a… Belgian car designer
A great reward for a European designer over a Korean! Luc Donckerwolke, Chief Creative Officer of Hyundai Motor Group, was promoted to President of the automaker in early December. An honorary title and a type of marshal’s baton. The former Volkswagen Group designer will continue to “strengthen the identity of each of the brands – Hyundai, Kia and Genesis – by overseeing the design and creation of concepts”, according to the official statement. This 57-year-old Belgian started with an internship at Peugeot before working for Audi, Skoda where he designed the Fabia and Octavia, then Lamborghini, where he created the Murcielago and the Gallardo. He took over as head of the style office of Seat, the Spanish brand of the German consortium, in 2005. He joined the group in 2011, where he assisted Italian master Walter de Silva, then the design boss of the Wolfsburg giant.
Then Bentley’s design director from 2012, he finally left the Volkswagen group in 2015 to join Hyundai. He succeeded in finding an original style for Hyundai and Kia, whose products until then were characterized by great restraint and lack of personality. Under his leadership, the Korean group succeeded in distinguishing itself from Hyundai and Kia in particular. the designer was adopted several years ago a savant-garde style, deliberately provocative, subversive, but more attractive a priori than compelling rejection. Given the success of the current Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage SUVs. The electric Kia EV6 was voted car of the year at the beginning of 2022. The designer became the “World Car Man of the World” in 2022! He also worked for Genesis, the Korean group’s third brand focused on the high end.
A great reward for a European designer over a Korean! Luc Donckerwolke, Chief Creative Officer of Hyundai Motor Group, was promoted to President of the automaker in early December. An honorary title and a type of marshal’s baton. The former Volkswagen Group designer will continue to “strengthen the identity of each of the brands – Hyundai, Kia and Genesis – by overseeing the design and creation of concepts”, according to the official statement. This 57-year-old Belgian started with an internship at Peugeot before working for Audi, Skoda where he designed the Fabia and Octavia, then Lamborghini, where he created the Murcielago and the Gallardo. He took over as head of the style office of Seat, the Spanish brand of the German consortium, in 2005. He joined the group in 2011, where he assisted Italian master Walter de Silva, then the design boss of the Wolfsburg giant.
Then Bentley’s design director from 2012, he finally left the Volkswagen group in 2015 to join Hyundai. He succeeded in finding an original style for Hyundai and Kia, whose products until then were characterized by great restraint and lack of personality. Under his leadership, the Korean group succeeded in distinguishing itself from Hyundai and Kia in particular. the designer was adopted several years ago a savant-garde style, deliberately provocative, subversive, but more attractive a priori than compelling rejection. Given the success of the current Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage SUVs. The electric Kia EV6 was voted car of the year at the beginning of 2022. The designer became the “World Car Man of the World” in 2022! He also worked for Genesis, the Korean group’s third brand focused on the high end.
A real steamroller
Luc Donckerwolke, Hyundai Motor Group owes him a lot! While waiting for the Chinese, now there are two road rollers in the auto industry: the Japanese Toyota and… Hyundai Motor. Two groups are showing the whole world that no one seems to be fighting. Korean, which achieved an operating margin of 5.7% last year, is very stable in China, India and Russia, where it is one of the leading manufacturers. But also in the United States, with a record market share last year of 9.6% for the two Hyundai and Kia brands themselves. The consortium also made a remarkable success in the European Union, where it became the third manufacturer… ahead of Renault. Thanks especially to the design and technology. The Korean was even one of the only car manufacturers to see its sales climb there (+5.4% in ten months), while the market fell by 8%. With a record market share of 9.8%.
In France, the group increased its registrations by 4% in a market at -8.5%. It has a 6.2% market share there. The group is notably very advanced in electric vehicles. The share of these vehicles (hybrid, rechargeable and electric) in Hyundai brand registrations reached 85% in France last year, 32% in Kia. The Korean is also the first to offer a complete range of all technologies: gasoline, diesel, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, electric… and hydrogen with the Hyundai Nexo SUV sold in small series since 2018 and specifically green taxis used by Parisians Hype . Last summer, Hyundai Motor announced its intention to invest around 6 billion euros, to have an annual production capacity of more than 700,000 fuel cells by 2030.
Regardless of the characteristics of its vehicles, however, the Korean group benefits from a very favorable and not so honest geostrategic context. Long favored by political power, the group has in fact grown and thrived under the shelter of an almost completely locked internal market. Hidden from foreign competition at home, Hyundai was suddenly in a near-monopoly position against its smaller compatriots – the former Daewoo maker in Korea – and Renault. Realizing strong margins in its own market, it was able to launch an offensive first in emerging countries, then in the United States and Europe. Like… Toyota.
