Hyundai's design strategy is the opposite of the more familiar Russian doll-type approach that scales the same core design up and down across a line-up.
Hyundai Design Centre boss Simon Loasby likens the approach to that of a chess set, where all the pieces on a board look different and serve different purposes, yet they’re all part of the same game. He calls it “customer-centric design”: you think of the needs of those for whom the car is created rather than trying to produce a bigger or smaller version of the car you just made.
This less orthodox approach requires a strong brand behind it to work, yet so individual and impressive in their own right have some of Hyundai’s cars become that the badge can sometimes be forgotten.
Xavier Martinet is coming up to a year in his role as Hyundai’s European boss, having moved over from the Renault Group. He is convinced Hyundai has the potential to grow not just in terms of volume but also in terms of brand awareness to make people think about Hyundai again rather than just a model name.
Martinet says the brand is strong enough globally to be ranked 30th overall in the latest Interbrand Best Global Brands report across all sectors – the list is topped by Apple, Microsoft and Google. “But in Europe we are not there yet,” he adds. “When people buy a Tucson, they don’t buy a Hyundai Tucson, and this is exactly where we want to go. We need to enhance the brand perception in the coming months and years.”
Brand-building tactics include the ad campaign about how to pronounce ‘Hyundai’ along with work with dealers to improve the customer experience in both sales and aftersales. A greater investment in digital tools is allowing for easier and more frequent communication with prospective and current customers, to give them information when they want it. With competition so fierce, they will be able to find a brand that can deliver.
“The products should be great, and the service should be great,” says Martinet. The greater brand push will not be at the expense of such divergent designs for future models. Design remains one of the best ways to stand out because “if you’re the second preferred vehicle from customers, you’re the first one to not buy”.
What is sharpening minds at Hyundai even more is the proliferation of new brands on the market, many of them from China.
When asked how Hyundai is responding to the rise of so many new brands, Martinet says: “The more you’re working on your brand and the more you’re working on customer-centric vehicles, the less vulnerable you’ll be.
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