Hyundai designer named 2022 World Car Person of the Year

MANILA: Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice President for Design and Chief Creative Officer Luc Donckerwolke has been named the 2022 World Car Person of the Year by a jury of 102 journalists from 33 countries.

To be eligible, award nominees must have made a major contribution to the global automotive industry with worldwide repercussions between January 1 and December 31, 2021. The contribution could be a substantial impact on their brand, or a significant safety, engineering, design, or technical innovation, or other significant benefit for the customers.

The judges chose Donckerwolke since he was in charge for the design of various highly innovative new models that debuted over the past year, including the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Genesis GV60, and Kia EV6. Furthermore, his restomod Pony and Grandeur models paid tribute to Korea’s rich and often overlooked automotive history.

“I am deeply honored to receive the Person of the Year award and would like to thank all of the jury members and the valued team at Hyundai Motor Group, without whom this would not have been possible,” Donckerwolke stated. “I have worked for many companies and brands over my career and I’m delighted at the recognition the Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis brands have received. They are a true reflection of the effort of all of the Hyundai Motor Group employees, retailers and partners who have worked steadfastly to develop a strong lineup of compelling and relevant vehicles on sale in over 200 countries worldwide.”

There were five finalists for this prestigious award, which was established in 2018. This year’s top five contenders reflect the absolute best and most distinguished men and women in the industry, in very personal and different ways. Aside from Donckerwolke, other finalists were Tata Motors Passenger Vehicle Business Unit Managing Director Shallesh Chandra, Netflix’s Formula 1 Drive to Survive Producers James Gay-Rees and Paul Martin, General Motors Corvette Executive Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter, and Ford F-150 Lightning Chief Engineer Linda Zhang.

Previous World Car Person of the Year awardees were Toyota Motor Corporation President and CEO Akio Toyoda (2021), PSA Group CEO Carlos Tavares (2020), FCA CEO, CNH Industrial Chairman, and Ferrari Chairman and CEO Sergio Marchionne (2019), and Volvo Car Group President and CEO Hakan Samuelsson (2018).

The World Car of the Year award is one of the seven awards given by the World Car Awards each year. The awards were formed in 2003 and introduced in 2004 to honor and inspire excellence, leadership, and innovation in the fast changing automotive industry.

Photo from World Car Awards

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