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Hyundai-Kia names former Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley designer as design chief

Luc Donckerwolke, former designer for both Bentley, Audi and Lamborghini, is succeeding Peter Schreyer as the lead designer for both Hyundai and Kia. This follows a significant shuffle within the Korean automaker's upper management. Schreyer — himself a former Volkswagen Group designer — will head design management. Chung Eui-sun, the son of company chairman and CEO Chung Mong-koo, was promoted as executive vice chairman. The head of Hyundai Motor America, Kyung Soo-lee, is leaving his position after just more than a year on the job. That's a lot of moving pieces at the top of Korea's largest automaker. Donckerwolke has been with Hyundai-Kia since 2015 when he left the Volkswagen Group to take over Genesis design. Some of his most famous designs include the Lamborghini Murcielago, Lamborghini Gallardo, Bentley Flying Spur and Bentley EXP 10 Speed 6. Schreyer led the design of the original Audi TT and has helped push forward Hyundai and Kia. The pair's influence can be seen and felt throughout the company's lineup. According to Reuters, part of the shakeup within the leadership follows a company announcement that third-quarter profits have fallen, sending shares to their lowest level in nine years. Related Video:

2020 Kia Telluride is an American-made SUV, for America

Given consumers' ravenous appetite for them, it's little surprise that Kia is introducing a larger, more upmarket SUV in the Telluride as the newest entry in its lineup. But the automaker turned to classic SUVs of yesteryear as influences for the intentionally boxy and very American design that it hopes will translate with consumers. Dubbed a midsize by Kia, the Telluride will slot above the entry-level, compact Sorento as the flagship of the Korean automaker's utility-vehicle lineup. Michael Cole, Kia's North America chief operating officer, said the midsize segment is forecast to grow from 1.6 million units sold in the U.S. in 2018 to 1.8 million in five years. "This was somewhere we needed to be," he said. It's also the first Kia designed specifically for the U.S. market, with its off-road features like on-demand electronic all-wheel drive transferring torque between the front and rear wheels and its strong, stiff body, further emphasized by its unveiling in Detroit on a landscaped "torque track" assembled in surplus space on the Cobo show floor. It'll also be built at Kia's plant in West Point, Ga. "It's very much a U.S.-targeted vehicle," Cole said. "We will have some export. But the message is, made in America, made for America, it's a U.S.-centric car." Designers at Kia's design center in Irvine, Calif. "wanted to get back to a traditional SUV styling," Chief Designer Tom Kearns said. "So many EVs and SUVs these days are trying to look sporty and more car-like, more sedan-like. We didn't want to go with that approach." Kearns said his design team members referenced old-school SUVs like the Ford Bronco, old Land Rovers and the original Chevrolet Blazer when creating the Telluride, Kia's largest SUV yet. "It's not retro, but we like the genuine feel and look, the purity of old-school SUVs with the long hoods, little bit more upright windshield, not a lot of glass angles, tumblehome a little more upright, just feels more purposeful and genuine to us," he said. "Our goal is very clean, very simple, not a lot of ornamentation, just a pure, nice form that's hopefully conveying a clean, functional appearance." Inside, the designers took largely the same approach, with a clean console that emphasizes horizontality and width, matte-finished wood and simulated brushed metal accents and big grab handles flanking the shifter that emphasize the vehicle's sense of adventure.

2015 Kia Sorento shows its new face in fashion-forward Paris

It seems like we've been catching glimpses of the 2015 Sorento for ages now, but Kia has finally revealed the European version of its revised crossover at the 2014 Paris Motor Show.
For the latest Sorento, Kia a few of the elements from the Cross GT concept and adapts them for the road. The production model has the brand's familiar mesh grille up front and headlights that wrap around the body with large foglights below. It features a modified version of the concept's swept-back stance that thankfully removes the awkwardness from the original design. Kia says that shaping the latest crossover was truly a global effort with input coming from Korea, Germany and the US.
For Europe, powertrains amount to a trio of four-cylinder engines with a 2.4-liter gasoline unit with 185 horsepower, a 2.0-liter diesel with 182 hp and 2.2-liter diesel with 197 hp. They're all available with a six-speed automatic, and a six-speed manual is offered on the petrol mill and 2.2-liter oil-burner.