DESIGNER OF THE YEAR
CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER AND PRESIDENT, HYUNDAI MOTOR GROUP
DESIGNER LUC DONCKERWOLKE IS SOMEthing of a design oracle for Hyundai Motor Group, pushing beyond traditional boundaries and setting the brand’s designs far apart from the crowd in ways that delight customers. He joined the Korean automaker in 2015, after stops at Peugeot and the Volkswagen Group, where he had designed showstoppers like the Lamborghini Diablo and the Bentley EXP 10 Speed Six concept. He took the chief creative officer job in 2020 and was named president of HMG in 2022.
Donckerwolke began at Hyundai designing the popular Palisade and Kona SUVS and adding flair to the Sonata. Later he and his team designed the new luxury Genesis GV80 SUV and redesigned the G80 and G90 sedans, using the company’s “Athletic Elegance” design language.
He reached new heights over the past few years with jaw-dropping concepts, giving each model its own unique style. His team is responsible for the sleek X concept trilogy, the X Convertible, X Concept and X Speedium Coupe. Donckerwolke says the concepts are “a look into our processes as we explore ideas for the next wave of EVS, one that incorporates Genesis’ DNA.” The Genesis X Convertible was so well-received that it is now slated for production.
Donckerwolke also was responsible for the Hyundai 45 EV concept, which evolved into the production Ioniq 5. That retro/ modern theme carried over into his team’s Hyundai Pony concept in 2021, and the retro concept spawned another modern design in the Hyundai N Vision 74 concept.
Customers are buying what Donckerwolke is selling. Hyundai moved more than 700,000 vehicles last year and Genesis and Kia are each coming off their best sales years ever.