“Hyundai has some sexy cars. Sexier than Alfa Romeo. That is the message I’d like to give to the world.”
Those were the words of SangYup Lee, the vice president of design for Hyundai Motor since 2016. According to an interview with Automotive News, Lee said he wants to add an emotional touch to Hyundai products through designs that are just as “sexy” as Alfa Romeo.
One such way of achieving this is by giving each Hyundai model its own look. The signature cascading grille will stay, but every model will have its own unique variation of the grille. This differs from the more common ‘Russian Doll’ approach that Audi and Mercedes-Benz are currently milking, but Hyundai aims to do just the opposite and move away from the “family look” approach.
This new design direction was heralded by the unveiling of the Le Fil Rouge concept (pictured), showcasing what the company calls a “sensuous sportiness” theme. Apparently, the theme is based on the “harmony between four fundamental elements in car design: proportion, architecture, styling and technology.”
Lee is no stranger to emotive and expressive designs. He was responsible for penning the fifth-generation Chevrolet Camaro concept (the car Shia LaBeouf drove in the first two Transformers movies), the C6 Corvette Stingray concept and the Bentley EXP 10 Speed 6 concept.
When asked, Lee admitted that the sensuous sportiness design language will materialise on vehicles as soon as 2019. “The Hyundai look [will be] more [like] chess. You see chess as a king, queen, bishop, knight. They all look different, they function differently, but when together, they became one team,” he explained.
“The Alfa Romeo and Maserati, those are really sexy cars, even the Germans got a lot of influence from the [Italian] cars. That emotional, sensous beauty, you don’t find that in the volume brands,” he said, adding that Hyundai cars have to be designed to maximise emotional value in order for them to be sexier than Alfa Romeos.
The Genesis brand, on the other hand, will be completely separate from this design approach, because “luxury brands need originality.” Does this all mean Lee is able to transform Hyundai cars into those that can stylistically rival Alfa Romeos, such as the Giulia Quadrifoglio? Well, only time can tell. Would you buy a Hyundai if it’s sexier than those produced by Italian design powerhouses? Comment below.
GALLERY: Hyundai Le Fil Rouge concept
