INTERVIEW: Casey Hyun, Creative Design Manager at Hyundai Motor Company and designer of the Sonata YF

INTERVIEW: Casey Hyun, Creative Design Manager at Hyundai Motor Company and designer of the Sonata YF

In the previous part of this story, we looked at how Hyundai has moved on to the next phase of its evolution. Instead of focusing on just undercutting rivals on price and matching them on reliability, the Korean carmaker is now pushing tech and design in a move to make its cars desirable. This approach can already be seen on new “Fluidic Sculpture” models like the Sonata and Tucson.

The company’s fresh “New Thinking, New Possibilities” motto carries the idea of “Modern Premium”, which believes that the new premium isn’t always the most expensive or feature laden. Like the Apple iPhone 4 and Starbucks coffee, they’re desirable, but also relatively accessible. And one of the main pillars of MP is design.

Who better to talk about design than the designer himself? Here, we have a chat with Casey Hyun, Creative Design Manager at Hyundai and also the lead designer of the Sonata YF. What does he do? Which car design does he admire the most?

Continue reading after the jump.

INTERVIEW: Casey Hyun, Creative Design Manager at Hyundai Motor Company and designer of the Sonata YF
Tell us more about your job, and what’s your role in the process of creating a new design, or direction such as Fluidic Sculpture?

My job basically involves two things. I work as a design project leader for any given project. Secondly, I am responsible for the development, refinement and implementation of Hyundai’s design philosophy (Fluidic Sculpture) on to Hyundai’s vehicles.

I won’t say I am in charge of the whole thing (VP of design is the person for that), but with a small chosen group of designers, I (team leader) was the one who refined and made the design philosophy a reality.

INTERVIEW: Casey Hyun, Creative Design Manager at Hyundai Motor Company and designer of the Sonata YF
What are the projects that you’ve worked on in Hyundai?

I have done few cars including the exterior design of the i30 (senior designer and exterior designer), the new Sonata YF (lead designer exterior/interior for advanced product styling) and the new Accent (exterior advanced product styling). I have done more projects since, but until the release of the car, I won’t be able to disclose them.

Hyundai has got reliability and quality covered. Now there seems to be a design offensive to lure people to the brand? Can you comment on this?

Yes. The slogan New Thinking, New Possibilities and Modern Premium both have a strong sense of the brand trying to give more to the customers than just value for money and quality. We as a brand are trying to sell values to people, and design with definitive direction is the best way to communicate with the world.

INTERVIEW: Casey Hyun, Creative Design Manager at Hyundai Motor Company and designer of the Sonata YF
Did the design team have to really fight and push for the recent bold designs? Are the top brass open minded in this respect? Or is there a lot of freedom given since Hyundai wants design to be a main element? 

It wasn’t easy in the beginning trying implement the design philosophy to the actual car, because before Fluidic Sculpture, brand quality was the most important thing.

But when the design centre developed FS, top management including the Vice Chairman of R&D and the Vice Chairman of the company (Chung Eui-sun, son of Chairman Chung Mong-koo) were fully supportive of it, and it was clear that Hyundai’s new design philosophy had undisputed support from everyone to be successful.

INTERVIEW: Casey Hyun, Creative Design Manager at Hyundai Motor Company and designer of the Sonata YF
Tell us more about Modern Premium

Modern Premium is about giving the customers value that goes beyond things such as cost. It is about giving people a sense of belonging to the brand, giving satisfaction that’s greater than what a long warranty or cost savings can give.

I would say as an example, driving a car that makes people turn and look, or driving a car which not only is fuel-efficient and eco-friendly, but which also depicts those values with design and brand image.

New Thinking, New Possibilities. Can you tell us more on this new motto from a design perspective?
 
New Thinking, New Possibilities is a slogan which our brand is trying to communicate with people. Just like Modern Premium, through NTNP, design is trying to come up with new and different ways of showing the brand value to our customers. 

INTERVIEW: Casey Hyun, Creative Design Manager at Hyundai Motor Company and designer of the Sonata YF
Another brand whose recent designs have been quite captivating is sister brand Kia. How does Hyundai’s direction/position differ from Kia’s? By the way, do you work together? 

No, we do not work together and we don’t get to see their designs either. We believe that the best way to give each brand its own identity is to completely separate them.

Hyundai’s way is more refined, and its form is influenced and derived from nature. Kia, as far as we are aware, is directed towards more bold and simple design.

INTERVIEW: Casey Hyun, Creative Design Manager at Hyundai Motor Company and designer of the Sonata YF
What do you drive or wish to own? What car designs do you admire? 

The automobile for me is a way of expressing my talent and my creative vision. Surprisingly, I am not a real car buff. I could do without it, and I actually do not own a car. My wife owns one, but I won’t tell you what is it!

As for the best car design ever, excluding cars before I was born (Casey is 36), it has to be the previous generation Mercedes-Benz S-Class (W220) designed by Steve Mattin. Best in terms of proportion and balance, even when sitting on just 16-inch wheels.

Also, it completely moved away from the car which it replaced, which itself is a big big task, where there really is no blueprint for success, and things had to be built from ground up. There was unbelievable pressure to be successful (the S-Class is after all the flagship of the brand), yet he chose a completely new path, and came up with a design which was just perfect in all sense.

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Danny Tan

Danny Tan loves driving as much as he loves a certain herbal meat soup, and sweet engine music as much as drum beats. He has been in the auto industry since 2006, previously filling the pages of two motoring magazines before joining this website. Enjoys detailing the experience more than the technical details.

 

Comments

  • endre on May 06, 2011 at 3:54 pm

    “Hyundai’s way is more refined, and its form is influenced and derived from nature. Kia, as far as we are aware, is directed towards more bold and simple design.” you mean Hyundai compete with Lexus and Kia with Toyota..

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    • Danny Tan (Member) on May 06, 2011 at 3:59 pm

      It’s not about brand positioning, but design themes.

      I think what he meant was that Kia’s direction is sharper and edgier, while Hyundai designs are more organic and flowing

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    • wolfsburg on May 06, 2011 at 4:13 pm

      Hyundai and Kia are trying to do what Peugeot and Citroen were doing… They want to seperate the brands using a strong identity for each of them while sharing most parts underneath…

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      • septzz on May 06, 2011 at 4:20 pm

        so it’s like Philips and Bang & Olufsen? same parts, different target, different design??
        ooooh…

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  • Nasai on May 06, 2011 at 4:31 pm

    ”I have done few cars including the exterior design of the i30 (senior designer and exterior designer), the new Sonata YF (lead designer exterior/interior for advanced product styling) and the new Accent (exterior advanced product styling)”

    What about the Hyundai Avante, Tucson, Grandeur? Are these models not under his lead as these names were not mentioned? I though the Hyundai’s design center in California were also involved in the fluidic sculpture concept? Just curious to know. Thanks.

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    • Danny Tan (Member) on May 06, 2011 at 4:39 pm

      Yup, those projects were led by other designers. Such a big thing like Fluidic Sculpture would have involved studios and personnel from the across the globe.

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  • “Hyundai has got reliability and quality covered…..”

    Um, no. Not yet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGEQzpKQl0A

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  • Fridz on May 06, 2011 at 4:54 pm

    “I actually do not own a car”

    Look, even Sonata lead designer don’t have any car!!!!

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    • Yes,
      Its the best way to design as it will not tend to look similar with own ride.

      (Azlano drive T Wish)

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    • How about Proton’s and Perodua’s, I dont think this same thing will happen to them and they wont even buying the things designed by themselves.

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    • Maybe got company car, so no need to own a car lah….tak-kan designer driving a bmw?

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  • 4g63tdsm on May 06, 2011 at 5:03 pm

    The design has more depth that just what you see inside and outside the car.

    Any any design language, not only does the car have to look a certain way, it has to gell very well with all other factors that makes up the market, ie,

    1) demographics
    2) performance characteristics and mechanical “soul”
    3) company direction
    4) intended competition
    5) heritage

    Get any of these out of sync and you get an incomplete product and lost from its intended demographic…like an ill handling/underpowered sporty looking car, too bold design for a conservative demographic, etc

    Perfect design don’t necessary have to be the best looking nor break grounds on design.

    The YF ranks quite high on my rightness meter on getting most of these ticked. Other notables were the New Beetle, the KIA Forte, Lotus Elise and recent Audis.

    Conversely, the flame surfaced E60 would have worked very well on a Korean marque, just not on a BMW 5er.

    I nearly went into automotive design school…… should have followed my passion.

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  • Ash Menon on May 06, 2011 at 5:03 pm

    Well the i30, Sonata YF, and the new Accent are among my favourite car designs, certainly among Hyundais. Well done, Casey!

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  • kobealex on May 06, 2011 at 5:05 pm

    “It is about giving people a sense of belonging to the brand, giving satisfaction that’s greater than what a long warranty or cost savings can give.”

    A great statement! Proton shud make an example of it… dun get me wrong, i luv my Neo CPS, bt Proton really nids to shift into high gear now! too slow of an improvement if u ask me~

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  • proton can hire him to design next proton cars..

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    • zozos on May 08, 2011 at 10:17 pm

      designer proton takkan tak tercabar. Buat sesuatu untuk hasilkan design yang lebih segar dan dinamik. Proton MD pls kerahkan mereka utk bekerja keras. Ramai lagi anak-anak muda yang bakal keluar dari universiti atau kolej yg berkebolehan boleh diambil bekerja dgn proton dalam bidang R&D. Jemput designer dari luar utk kongsi kepakaran dgn proton spt Peter Shreyer, Chris Bangle, Adrian Van Hoydonk, casey Hyun dan ramai lagi..

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  • nabill on May 06, 2011 at 6:16 pm

    i prefer kia’s design theme…the new generation optima really looks great..

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  • I love Hyundai’s design on the new Sonata and most of its recent cars. It’s flowing, clean and symmetrical. I hope they can maintain and come out with something better in the future.

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  • Dak's Quacks on May 06, 2011 at 8:00 pm

    Hyundai design more like a pretty woman or handsome guy, whereas Kia design more like Transformer/Robot. I personally prefers Hyundai design. Regarding the improvement in quality and fuel saving, that’s not true. But since the car has a pretty/handsome look, I could still bear with it.

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  • SoMeOnE on May 07, 2011 at 4:54 am

    its funny how kia waxes lyrical about peter and his design team in press releases while Hyundai mainly keeps saying that thier cars are designed in partnerships with the various design studios they have all over the world…i mean i know the former dude has a track record and he can be used as a cachet of sorts but guys like Casey Hyun should be also highlighted…im not delving into any racial issues but everyone in theory should be allowed to shine…

    i kinda like this whole designed by thing going around where themes and designers are highlighted..makes it more personal and satisfying as opposed to a ‘designed by comitee’ feel when u buy a said car..credit should go to bmw and Chris Bangle for making designers and themes more mainstream…

    infact it was only recently that found out that my mk1 mazda6 and its stable mates was designed by a one Moray Callum who is the sibling of the rather more famous Ian Callum ( Aston Martin,Jaguar) the current gen Mazdas( mk2 mazda6 etc)were designed by Laruens van Den Acker (now at Renault and father of current Megane ) …

    btw if im not mistaken… even the current chevy camaro is designed by an asian as well but is rarely or never highlighted…oh well…

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    • Danny Tan (Member) on May 07, 2011 at 2:03 pm

      I think you meant Lee Sang Yup, now at VW

      http://paultan.org/2009/12/26/camaro-exterior-designer-leaves-for-volkswagen/

      Designs are normally credited to the group design chief (Schreyer and Bangle for instance), and we rarely get to see/talk to the guys who actually did the thing, under the group direction, of course. For instance, it was GM’s VP of design Ed Welburn who walked yours truly and the Asian media around the Camaro at Shanghai 2009, not Lee Sang Yup.

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      • Black Dog on May 07, 2011 at 4:27 pm

        In design, it’s never about one guy designing everything, espiecially for a car. The head designer might give directions but design ideas are contributed by a lot of people, espiecially those that pay your salary. So basically it’s more like a team effort, and rarely just one guy takes all the credit. (I’m also in the design field).

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        • Danny Tan (Member) on May 07, 2011 at 6:55 pm

          Agreed. Of course it’s a whole team of brains behind the final design, not just the head honcho.

          What I meant to explain is that unfortunately, we rarely get to hear about or speak to team members beyond the famous figurehead. And that’s for us in the media, what more for Mr Joe Public?

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  • now-kia-fans on May 08, 2011 at 5:39 pm

    Looking at latest theme from Kia & Hyundai, Kia look more nicer and on-par with euro design but hyundai still maintain that bit of their style like k-pop song !

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    • loveit on May 10, 2011 at 4:08 pm

      on the contrary I think hyundai is toward it’s own identity but KIA is on the other hand still looking for its own (such a mix design with honda front and audi’s rear)

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  • nighttrain on May 08, 2011 at 7:25 pm

    I’m guessing different management has different styles when it comes to design. Some CEO will have a vision and the designers will realize it for him. Other manufacturers will give free reign to the in-house design team to do as they like.. Others will employ specialists to get the job done (Guigiaro, Bertone). But the bottom line is to do proper market research and find out what really sells, even then, in most cases, the market dont’even know what it wants until you put a new radical design in.

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