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NEWS
Kia designer treads softly with Hyundai
Celebrated car designer Peter Schreyer says he won't change the style guide now that he's in charge of design at HyundaiPeter Schreyer has been a busy bloke. His exploits have been so successful that he was promoted to the position of President of Kia in late 2012, then named head of design for Hyundai on top of his duties at Kia a couple of weeks later.
Having steered Kia from cheap and cheerful to sporty and desirable, Mr Schreyer is now tasked with breathing new life into Hyundai designs, and during a door-stop interview at the Chicago motor show he explained that he plans to tread softly with Kia's parent brand.
"I think that Hyundai has made some quite bold moves in design and creating a lot of attention and being successful. So I’m not planning on throwing that away and doing something completely different."
The Kia/Hyundai design boss said he will keep the current 'fluidic sculpture' design language seen in many of its current vehicles, including the i30, i40, and Santa Fe, but cautioned that future Hyundai cars will need to be "bold". However it's unlikely we'll see the 'Schreyer effect' on Hyundais for a few years yet.
"There are lots of cars in progress," said Mr Schreyer, "But you need to give me a bit of time as well (laughs)."
The Korean car industry's golden boy says that he'll be spending more time with Hyundai moving forward, "...but I won't forget about Kia".
"I only did this since two weeks ago, but of course I need to spend a lot of time on Hyundai because Kia I know very well and have been with them for several years now.
"I have a job now that concerns both and I look at both brands from a slightly different perspective now."
However with more responsibility comes increased power, and the German-born designer says his meteoric rise up the Korean company's corporate hierarchy will allow him more freedom to get his creations green-lit for production.
"I think the role is definitely changing and it's a bigger position ... I'm sure it will help for the sake of design."
This could mean cars like the Cross GT Concept become a reality where previously they may have been relegated to dark and dusty storage warehouses. Mr Schreyer explained that by giving a designer increased authority would also make the Korean companies "stronger".
"I think it's a great statement from Hyundai and Kia to put me or somebody else in design into this sort of position, it shows how important design is for them and what a strong drive they have to really move forward in design."
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Written byFeann Torr
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