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  Business   Hyundai poaches Bentley exterior designer

Hyundai poaches Bentley exterior designer

REUTERS
Published : May 17, 2016, 2:56 am IST
Updated : May 17, 2016, 2:56 am IST

After poaching Bentley’s design chief last year, Hyundai Motor Co said on Monday that it has also secured the services of the luxury ma-rquee’s exterior designer.

After poaching Bentley’s design chief last year, Hyundai Motor Co said on Monday that it has also secured the services of the luxury ma-rquee’s exterior designer.

Hyundai issued a statement saying Sangyup Lee will start work next month as its head of design, after Reuters reported the hiring of the Korean designer by the South Korean auto giant.

Mr Lee is being brought in to work with Luc Donc-kerwolke, a Peruvian-born Belgian, to lead Hyundai’s development of its Genesis premium car brand — a project driven by Chung Euisun, heir-apparent to the Hyundai Group.

“Mr Lee will help... enhance the design competitiveness of both the Hyundai and Genesis brands with his abundant experience in designing high-end luxury vehicles,” Hyundai said in its statement.

“His challenging and innovative design languages fit well with the DNA of Hyundai Motor.”

Hyundai Motor, which sells some eighty lakh cars a year, sees limited growth unless it breaks into new markets, a person close to the automaker said. For the South Korean firm, that means premium cars and maybe pick-up trucks and parts of Southeast Asia.

Mr Lee said he has joined Hyundai Motor as a vice president in charge of Hyundai and Genesis design, reporting to Donckerwolke, who will head up Hyundai’s new Prestige Design Division, as well as being global head of Hyundai design — a reporting arrangement that Hyundai also confirmed on Monday.

Bentley spokesman Andrew Roberts confirmed Mr Lee “has resigned from Bentley to take a position at another brand.”

Mr Lee, 46, ran Bentley’s exterior design since 2012 having previously worked at Volkswagen group’s design center in California, and General Motors. He played a lead role in designing the Chev-rolet Corvette, Stingray and Camaro — which featured in the Transformers movies — and Bentley’s Bentayga SUV.

Mr Lee said the ex-Bentley design duo aim to make Genesis a recognised global premium brand as new disruptive technologies such as autonomous, connected cars and alternative propulsion systems alter the automobile design landscape.