The band is getting back together, but this time on a whole new stage. As reported by Reuters, Sangyup Lee is jumping ship from Bentley to follow his former colleague Luc Donckerwolke at Hyundai. Lee will report to Donckerwolke and serve as vice president of Hyundai and Genesis design, working toward the Korean automaker’s ambitious goals of building a world-class luxury brand.
Donckerwolke was named chief designer at Bentley in 2012, but left for Hyundai in June of 2015 to succeed Peter Schreyer (himself a defector from VW/Audi) and become global head of Hyundai design as well as head of the new Prestige Design Divison. Together, the two worked on key projects like the Bentley Bentayga and EXP 10 Speed 6 concept.
Hyundai has come this far in recent years by relentlessly pursuing improvement, and that has meant sweeping up from the competition some of the industry’s most respected and accomplished talents, including hiring Lamborghini brand and design director Manfred Fitzgerald as senior vice president. Hyundai’s own big push upmarket, including those of the luxury Genesis division, are sure to include future technologies and advancements in the areas of autonomous cars, connectivity, and alternative drivetrains.
What we do know for sure is that all Genesis models will be rear-wheel drive, and that Lee and Donckerwolke will design each model from a “clean sheet of paper.” The clear visual advantages of this layout, as well as to compete from a performance standpoint with Cadillac, Lexus, and the Germans rather than Buick and Acura, put Genesis on the right track.
“For decades, luxury brands such as Bentley, Aston Martin and Maserati have been about possession,” he told Reuters. “In the future, as disruptive technologies kick in, luxury is going to be about experience. People are going to look for a special experience rather than something special to own.”
Hyundai has been pushing the boundaries of what people expect of it with recent concepts like the Vision G coupe and the Genesis New York sport sedan, both of which indicate a clear mission to beat the Germans at their own game. Carryover models like the G80 and G90 (the former Hyundai Genesis and Equus sedans) will serve their roles for now, but down the road we’ll likely look back on these models as stepping stones on the way to a brand that’s more focused and defined.
Source: Reuters
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