David Briggs, a modelling manager at the studio, describes the process at the clay modelling lab.Emily Atkins/The Globe and Mail
As Genesis looks to expand its lineup and reach new markets, Hyundai Motor Company’s luxury brand is putting design front and centre with a new modernized process.
In mid-October, the South Korean-based company opened its first design studio in North America, a market where Genesis sells more than half of its vehicles, in the Los Angeles area. Its other design studios are in Seoul and Frankfurt.
All three strategically placed studios – strategic because they cover most major markets around the world – work together to develop new designs and solve problems with the aim of bringing products to market faster and ensuring the designs will succeed around the world. And, because of where the different studios are in the world, designers can be handing off tasks as they finish for the day to work in collaboration around the clock.
“At Genesis, design is brand and brand is design,” said Luc Donckerwolke, chief creative officer of Genesis and parent Hyundai. “There should be no difference in design quality depending on the positioning of the brand. If you’re working for a premium luxury brand, you want to be maturing the design more,” whereas “If you work on another brand, you might want to be more, extroverted.”
Inside the largely open-air Genesis Design California in El Segundo, which opened Oct. 10, 2025.Courtesy of manufacturer
Inside the largely open-air Genesis Design California in El Segundo, which opened Oct. 10, 2025.Courtesy of manufacturer
The studio is calm and minimalistic to model the “reductive design” principles the luxury brand wants its vehicles to embody, added SangYup Lee, head of global design for Genesis.
At the heart of the 80,000 square-foot, largely open-air Genesis Design California facility in El Segundo, Cali. is a US$5-million clay modelling section, with four five-axis milling machines and a lifting floor that together enable designers to work on five model vehicles at a time, said David Briggs, a modeling manager at the studio.
“This is where we all collaborate between the clay modeling, the digital and the design, and also engineering. It’s a constant flow of information between all of the disciplines,” he said. “It is so much faster now. Before, we could only manage one model at a time.”
And while each of the three studios keeps standard work hours, the design process at Genesis continues around the clock.
“Data never sleeps because of the different time zones,” Donckerwolke said. “This is the big asset we have in integrating these studios.”
Super cars in the works at Genesis Design California.Emily Atkins/The Globe and Mail
Tony Chen, a manager at the studio, explained the always-on work process, which the company calls “global design.”
“Korea [Genesis headquarters] will send out some kind of task, or search for a solution. Its local team would work on it throughout the day, develop that solution, then hand it to us in our morning. We would find another solution or resolve theirs. What we like to do is to continue that cycle to find solutions in a very fast and efficient time,” he said.
Although the three teams work together, they also compete to have their designs selected for development. Donckerwolke said each team will submit a design to headquarters and only one will be selected to move forward to production.
Inside the airy Genesis Design California.Emily Atkins/The Globe and Mail
“We actually push the designers for the most extreme version or model,” he said. “In our design presentation with the top management we want to make sure that we have a broad spectrum. We will look at all the proposals coming from the U.S., from Seoul and from Frankfurt, and we will make sure that we have very different profiles that will allow us to find the right balance.”
The designers’ different backgrounds make a difference in what they produce, Donckerwolke added, noting that the European designers tend to have a “conventional, traditional and more premium” approach to design, while in Korea they are more “innovative and pushing the boundaries.” He said the U.S. team is differentiated by its love of car culture and an emotional, passionate style.
A concept car at Genesis Design California.Emily Atkins/The Globe and Mail
“The diversity is very important, but we have to really carefully pick and choose how to organize it together and make a beautiful Genesis product out of it,” Lee added.
Chen said the U.S. team works to have regional preferences included.
“Some things that North America might like, we make sure that’s communicated in our designs,” he said.
Donckerwolke emphasized the importance of collaboration.
“We do the serious competition, but at the end of it, whoever wins, they can’t do the work by themselves, especially in production. There are so many components, so many parts. You have to work together,” he said.
The accelerated design process reflects the brand’s rapid trajectory among the ranks of luxury carmakers. Genesis is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, with a top-10 ranking in global luxury brands, double-digit profit margins and the fastest growth of any luxury brand, said Hyundai chief executive officer José Muñoz.
Genesis sold its millionth vehicle after less than nine years in business, beating out competitors such as Infiniti and Lexus.
Genesis sales climbed 13 per cent in the U.S. in 2024, while Canadian sales jumped 18.5 per cent between September, 2024 and 2025, for a total of 6,157 vehicles. That compares to 2024’s total sales of 7,040 in 2024, its best year in Canada.
North America is the company’s top market, with 55 per cent of sales, Munoz said. That accounts in part for the development of the new California design centre, but is also why Hyundai has chosen to invest more than US$26-billion in the U.S. manufacturing capability over the next four years. The goal is to have 80 per cent – about 1.2 million – of the vehicles sold in North America made in the region by 2030.
Genesis also has broader global ambitions with plans to expand into new markets such as Europe and Asia. The plans include offering new hybrid and extended-range electric vehicles to expand from its current six models, Munoz said.
The manufacturer is also working on its Magma performance models and is making a foray into endurance racing with entries in the FIA World Endurance Challenge and IMSA SportsCar Championship races with its GMR-001Hypercar.
Inside the clay modelling lab, where it is a constant flow between digital, design and engineering to constantly update the model.Emily Atkins/The Globe and Mail
The writer was a guest of the automaker. Content was not subject to approval.