Luc Donckerwolke in a Blick interview: “The perfect car is boring”

What was the biggest difference in your daily business life when you switched from VW group to Hyundai?
Luc Doncker cloud: Of course, I knew the Hyundai brand and its current models for a long time, but I did not know much about its history and I had to be familiar with everything first. However, I quickly realized that they were much faster than I had known from my previous studies. That’s why Hyundai had 85 different models. Not all for the same market – but the volume was impressive to me.

Does such diversity bring more problems or more opportunities for a designer?
Both – but it’s not possible to create a uniform brand face for vehicles. A uniform family design is no longer so easy. We chose to create small families with their own character. This also makes possible the short life cycle we have at Hyundai. At first I was disappointed that after the design freeze (determination of the design) you would not be able to work on the details of the vehicles for a few more months. But here I was told ‘Just do it with the next model’, which is not always easy for a designer.

Why is Hyundai’s life cycle shorter than most of its competitors?
In Korea, but also in the USA, customers always want something new. The situation is different in Europe or a premium brand and we have to adapt to it. We cannot transfer the same design to many vehicles with the high-volume brands Hyundai and Kia, because new models are coming out so fast that over time, the design languages ​​overlapped. Our makeovers arrive so early that we haven’t received any feedback from customers yet. Again at Genesis we work differently because we want the design to last longer.

Does Hyundai already have a brand history like its European or US competitors?
We are working on it. Take the Hyundai Pony, created 50 years ago by Giorgetto Giugiaro (84). The pony was the beginning of automobile culture in Korea. Hyundai needs to be more aware of its own history because you can be proud of it. But history does not play the role it plays in Korea in other parts of the world. Hardly anyone here drives a classic car or wears a shabby leather jacket – it’s just slowly coming out.

The automotive industry is in a state of upheaval, not just because of electromobility. It should become faster and significantly more efficient. How does this affect the design?
At Hyundai, we’re faster than I’ve ever experienced. Fast work and processes not only provide business advantages, but are also good for design. It is not diluted during processing and the core is preserved. What we affirm is final. This keeps you much closer to the original idea for the design.

Does this change business processes?
To be fast, you have to work digitally. We did this completely for the first time in Tucson and completed it six months faster than we planned. Digital work gives us a lot more time for important details. The Tucson, for example, looks very masculine and aggressive – very close to our original design, which incidentally came from a woman. But the perfect tool would be boring. You should be able to distract yourself with something. This is more important than ever.