Hyundai Group Names Former Lambo/Bentley Man Donckerwolke As Chief Designer

The Hyundai group is reshuffling some of its top executives. And included among them is a new chief designer for the entire group.

According to Reuters, the role will now fall to Luc Donckerwolke, a former Volkswagen Group designer who followed Peter Schreyer to South Korea and will now take his place.

The Peruvian-born Belgian designer first joined the VW design ranks in the early 1990s after a brief stint at Peugeot, and went on to hold senior design roles in the Skoda, Seat, Audi, Lamborghini, and Bentley brands under the group’s vast umbrella. Along the way, he was credited with designing such varied models as the fourth-generation Seat Ibiza, Audi A2, Lamborghini Murcielago and Bentley Flying Spur.

After a brief respite from the spotlight of automotive design, Donckerwolke re-emerged as head designer of Hyundai’s new Genesis luxury brand. But now he’ll be moving up to oversee design for the entire group – a major promotion for an accomplished designer.

His predecessor, Schreyer, who has been with the group since 2006, is stepping back in a consulting capacity. Schreyer had also worked for the German giant prior to joining Hyundai, designing numerous Volkswagens and Audis in the late 1990s and early 2000s before moving to Korea. He was one of the three presidents at Kia, then of the entire group, and the most senior non-Korean executive at the company.

The reshuffle comes as Chung Eui-sun takes a more leading role in the group as executive vice chairman. Eui-sun is the son of the octogenarian current group chairman Chung Mong-koo, grandson of founder Chung Ju-yung, and heir apparent as the company’s next chairman.