Luc Donckerwolke

Luc Donckerwolke (born 19 June 1965) is a Belgian automotive designer,[1] president, and chief creative officer of the Hyundai Motor Group and the Genesis automotive brand.[2] Prior to joining the Hyundai Motor Group, he was the design director at Volkswagen Group's Bentley, Lamborghini, Škoda, and Audi brands.[3][4] In 2022, a jury panel of 102 journalists among 33 countries named Donckerwolke the "World Car Person of the Year" for significantly impacting the automotive industry.[5][6]

Background

Donckerwolke was born in Lima, Peru, and educated in various South American and African countries before studying industrial engineering in Brussels and transportation design in Vevey, Switzerland.[7]

He has a residence in Germany and in Brussels. His hobbies include motor racing, old cars, foreign cultures and learning languages. He speaks Dutch, Italian, French, Spanish, English, German, Korean, Mandarin, Japanese and Swahili.[8]

Career

Donckerwolke began his design career in 1990 with Peugeot in France. In 1992 he moved to Ingolstadt for a two-year stint at Audi Design. He spent 1994 to 1996 working at the Škoda Design Center in Mlada Boleslav, in the Czech Republic, where he contributed to the 1996 Škoda Octavia and 1999 Škoda Fabia.

After Škoda he returned to Audi responsible for concept development, operating out of Ingolstadt for one year and Munich for another. It was during this time he worked on the Audi A4 Avant and the Audi R8 Le Mans Racer. During his time at Audi, Donckerwolke was also responsible for the design of the Audi A2 concept and production car, which was known at the time for being innovative and ahead of its time, like many of his designs.

He was head of design at Lamborghini from 1998, where he was responsible for the 2001 Lamborghini Diablo VT 6.0, 2002 Lamborghini Murciélago and 2004 Lamborghini Gallardo, winning the 'Red Dot Award' in 2003 in recognition for his work on them. He also worked with Walter de'Silva to produce the 2006 Lamborghini Miura concept.

In September 2005, Donckerwolke was appointed SEAT Design Director overseeing the design of future SEAT models, replacing Walter de'Silva who was promoted to oversee design for the entire Audi Brand Group. He was tasked with progressing SEAT design from Walter de'Silva's directorship to a look that would bring increased brand awareness and sales to the marque. His first visible contribution to SEAT was the SEAT Tribu concept, unveiled at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show; he later penned the 2008 SEAT Ibiza.

In September 2012, Donckerwolke was appointed Bentley Director of Design, overseeing the design of future Bentley models, replacing Dirk van Braeckel who moved to Volkswagen Group Design. In June 2015 Bentley announced Stefan Sielaff as his successor: "Mr Sielaff replaces Mr Donckerwolke who has decided to leave the business and Volkswagen AG".[9]

In November 2015, he was tapped to lead Hyundai Motor Group's Genesis luxury brand from 2016[10] and work together with Hyundai-Kia's chief designer Peter Schreyer. Donckerwolke replaced Peter Schreyer as Chief Design Officer of Hyundai Motor Group in 2017,[11] a position from which he resigned in April 2020.[12]

In November 2020, Donckerwolke rejoined Hyundai Motor Group as Chief Creative Officer (CCO) of the Group and the Genesis brand.[13] He was named President of the Hyundai Motor Group in November 2022, retaining the position of CCO.[14]

Designs

References
  1. "Hyundai's design chief follows 'sixth sense'". Automotive News. 17 December 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  2. Meiners, Jens (2 November 2020). "Automotive Design Star Luc Donckerwolke Is Back at Hyundai Group". caranddriver.com. Car and Driver. Retrieved 15 December 2020. After an absence of several months, Luc Donckerwolke rejoins the Hyundai Group...the highly regarded designer, who had been with the group since 2016, will return in a new and global, Europe-based position overseeing design...Donckerwolke is expected to focus particularly on Genesis and the Ioniq sub-brand.
  3. Meiners, Jens (29 April 2020). "Hyundai/Genesis Design Chief Luc Donckerwolke Resigns". Car and Driver. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  4. "Design : Luc Donckerwolke, nouveau patron du style avancé chez le groupe Volkswagen Actus et Tests auto sur Turbo.fr : Design : Luc Donckerwolke, nouveau patron du style avancé chez le groupe Volkswagen". www.turbo.fr. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  5. Pellat, Jared (23 February 2022). "LUC DONCKERWOLKE, GENESIS CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER, NAMED WORLD CAR PERSON OF THE YEAR 2022". genesisnewsusa.com. Genesis Global Media Center. Retrieved 5 March 2022. Genesis is proud to announce that the World Car Awards jury panel has named Luc Donckerwolke, Executive Vice President for Design and Chief Creative Officer (CCO), its 2022 World Car Person of the Year...the accolade recognizes automotive industry professionals who have made a significant impact with their contributions in the year leading up to the award. The World Car Awards jury members representing 102 journalists from 33 countries cited Donckerwolke's role overseeing innovative new models, including the Genesis GV60, as the principal reason for honoring him this year.
  6. "Luc Donckerwolke, HMG's Chief Creative Officer, Named World Car Person of the Year 2022". HYUNDAI MOTORS. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  7. 'Take a Seat Mr Donckerwolke', 4Car 17/09/07, , accessed 17 Sept 2007
  8. "Luc Donckerwolke, Head of Lamborghini Design". VWVortex. 2003-12-15. Archived from the original on 2007-08-07. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  9. "BENTLEY ANNOUNCES NEW DESIGN DIRECTOR". www.bentleymedia.com. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  10. "Hyundai Turning Genesis Into Own Luxury Brand". www.techtimes.com. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  11. "Another ex-VW man to head Hyundai design". www.motoring.com.au. 13 June 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  12. "Donckerwolke leaves Hyundai". www.thedrive.com. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  13. "Automotive Design Star Luc Donckerwolke is Back at Hyundai Group". 2 November 2020.
  14. "Hyundai Motor Group Announces 2022 Key Executive Appointments". www.hyundai.com. Archived from the original on 11 February 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
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