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Luc Donckerwolke steps down as head of Hyundai Group design

Automotive News got hold of "an internal note" declaring that Hyundai Group design chief Luc Donckerwolke is stepping down today for "personal reasons." After ex-Volkswagen Group pen Peter Schreyer took over Kia design in 2006 and began the South Korean automaker's renaissance, Donckerwolke became the next VW Group design emigre to head east in 2015. He began his tenure in charge of Hyundai and Genesis, then took over as group design head when Schreyer stepped back from day-to-day operations in November 2018. Donckerwolke pushed for emotional products and brands that didn't look like different-sized versions of one another, dividing the trio of company makes into sexy and sporty Hyundai, young and cool Kia, and haute couture Genesis. Two of the three brands are on their way. Kia's got some top products but is still tweaking its formula.  The Belgian's design resume stretches back to his first job at Peugeot in 1990, where he stayed for two years before moving to Volkswagen. That's where things get good, a 23-year run including work on the first-generation Skoda Octavia and Fabia, the Audi A2, A4 Avant, and R8 Le Mans race car, the Lamborghini Diablo VT, Gallardo and Murcielago, and the Bentley Flying Spur among many others. Credits at Hyundai include the Kona and Palisade, and at Genesis, the G80 and G90 sedans and the GV80 crossover. Considering Donckerwolke's background, it's no surprise to hear he opined for a Genesis supercar within a year of arrival at Hyundai, and had ideas about what he wanted to do. He said at the 2016 New York Auto Show, "I won't reveal the secret now because it's still my baby! Obviously, yes, this is part of the interest of designing a brand, being able to create [supercars]. It's not just something which we'll do, let's say a rational traditional project, but there will be some highlights." It's too bad we'll miss that. Hyundai Group bosses won't name a successor yet, leaving SangYup Lee as head of design at Hyundai and Genesis and Karim Habib, the ex-BMW and ex-Infiniti designer hired last year, in charge of Kia design. Donckerwolke issued a statement that read in part, "It's been an honor and privilege to contribute to the shaping of the future of Hyundai, Kia and Genesis.

Autoblog Subcompact Crossover Comparison | Honda HR-V, Hyundai Kona, Jeep Renegade, Kia Soul

LAKE LEELANAU, Mich. — Consumers, and consequently automakers, are increasingly moving away from sedans and into crossovers as drivers seek more space and utility on roads heavily populated by larger and taller vehicles. While the various crossover segments are dominated by bigger, more expensive, family-oriented vehicles, those at the very bottom of the size and price ladder are a little different. The diverse selection of subcompact crossovers are targeting an equally diverse selection of buyers who need something sized to fit into their urban and suburban driving lives — not to mention their budgets. Some sort of active, outdoorsy lifestyle is almost always intended. Enough of these small crossovers have popped up that we thought it high time to pick some popular competitors — the Honda HR-V, Hyundai Kona, Jeep Renegade and Kia Soul — and pit them against one another in a four-way comparison test. We tried to spec them out as closely as we could in terms of price, with the Jeep standing out as the sole outlier with a price over $30,000. Following in the footsteps of our midsize pickup comparison test, we drove up to Michigan's pinky, where weÂ’d eat, sleep, and breathe these four crossovers to figure out which came out on top based on our 100-point ranking of objective and subjective metrics. Autoblog Subcompact Crossover Comparison View 36 Photos Certainly, there are more choices available than this four (a Subaru Crosstrek in particular was not available at the time of our test), but we think the HR-V, Kona, Renegade and Soul are a representatively diverse collection of popular choices. Without further ado, here are the results of our test, starting with fourth place. Related: Autoblog's Midsize Pickup Truck Comparison Test Fourth place: 2019 Honda HR-V AWD Touring – 72.2 points The Honda HR-V is the second oldest vehicle in this comparative set behind the Jeep Renegade. We first tested it in April 2015. More so than its Jeep counterpart, the Honda feels its age. ItÂ’s dated inside and out, the infotainment tech is in dire need of an update (yes, even though it was actually recently updated), and the CVT feels at least a generation behind most others currently available. And that powertrain is the biggest issue that held the HR-V back from a better score in our comparison. Of the four vehicles, it has the least power, which makes the CVT even more of a nuisance.

Honda, Hyundai and Kia get best word-of-mouth recommendations in US

Forget advertising, incentives and, yes, even our excellently crafted vehicle reviews, sometimes the best way for automakers to sell cars is still good ol' fashioned word of mouth. In an attempt to measure this "word of mouth" power, The Boston Consulting Group, a management consulting firm, has created a new study called the Brand Advocacy Index (BAI). The index takes a look at how various industries perform from person to person. Those industries include automotive, smartphones, grocery, mobile telecommunications and banking.
The study polled more than 32,000 individuals across Europe and in the US to come up with the top 55 brands in these various industries. On the automotive side of things, the top brands in the US were Honda, Hyundai and Kia, all tied at 63 percent. On a global scale, Volkswagen and Toyota scored the highest with a 65-percent BAI rating (both in France). The average BAI for auto industry players tallied 50 percent.
As for companies in other industries, Apple's iPhone was the index's top-rated smartphone, Trader Joe's was the highest recommended grocery store, Virgin was sat atop the mobile telecom industry and USAA was the top retail bank. Scroll down for the full press release on the new study.