The 4 best examples of why Hyundai has been nailing the car design game

The South Korean brand exhibits the freshest styling in the industry across its entire model line. You'll be blown away by what's coming.

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Jan 8, 2025 - 04:27

The 4 best examples of why Hyundai has been nailing the car design game

Not so long ago, the best car designs came from premium brands like BMW, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and Jaguar. There was a clear delineation between these premium brands and more affordable fare. Mazda made some solid, albeit more conservative, progress in the design space. South Korean brand Hyundai was improving incrementally, but it sometimes took steps backward, like the change from the 6th-generation to the 7th-generation Hyundai Sonata.

These days, Hyundai has some of the most attractive models in the industry. For example, the 5th-generation Hyundai Santa Fe is more likely to turn heads than a BMW X3 or an Audi Q5m, and the recently refreshed Hyundai Sonata family sedan easily upstage both the new Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. How did this ever come to be?

The design team goes big

Chief Design Officer Luc Donckerwolke started changing the design direction at Hyundai Motor Group in 2018 with the introduction of the Le Fil Rouge Concept. The sinuous, heavily creased sedan ushers in a new era for Hyundai.

Having served as the design director for Bentley, Lamborghini, and Audi, Donckerwolke knew a thing or two about iconic automotive design. His credentials included the Lamborghini Murciélago, the Bentley Flying Spur, and the Audi A4 Avant.

Donckerwolke’s role encompassed global design for Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis. That’s when the design direction for Hyundai, especially, started to depart from not only other mainstream brands but also its own successful but still conservative design language. Rather than making small changes, Hyundai’s design team started taking some significant and daring design risks that have paid off well for the brand.

Donckerwolke and his team, including current Chief Design Officer Sangyup Lee, brought design and styling from premium brands to mainstream automobiles.

The former exotic car designer introduced Hyundai’s Sensuous Sportiness design philosophy, bringing harmony between elements of proportion, architecture, styling, and technology and, in the process, making modern Hyundais look like no other mainstream brand. Here are four of the best examples of Hyundai’s stunning design.

#1: The 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe is squared off in high-style

When the 5th-generation Santa Fe debuted for the 2024 model year, it was almost shocking. No other car brand sought to reinterpret the Land Rover Defender in such a blatant way, but here’s the thing: it was even better looking. Those strong angled fender arches, the bold Minecraft-style headlight and taillight H-patterns, the extra-wide tailgate, and the new boxy ethos all contributed to the freshest design of the year.

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And then there was that cabin, unlike anything you’d ever seen on the market. It was brilliant and daring all at once. It's the kind of redesign that makes you forget about every generation before it.

While it does not utilize any cues from the Sensuous Sportiness design philosophy, it does reflect the brand’s evolving design language. The Santa Fe taps into the brand’s “Open for More” concept approach that caters to city dwellers and outdoor lovers alike. No automaker unveiled a bolder design last year.

#2: The 2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5 N is a retro-modern electric mini-beast

The IONIQ 5 redefines the hot hatch not just because of its electric, radical, high-powered, and high-tech performance execution. but also because it too looks like no other hatchback on the road. It’s more aggressive-looking and bolder than its standard IONIQ 5 sibling, and rightly so since it has to show off its potent wares at a glance.

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The powerful stance, flared fenders, racing-focused front end, and stark body cut lines give it a presence unmatched by any other performance hatchback available today, and that includes the buff Toyota GR Corolla and the mature Golf R. The IONIQ 5 N, especially clad in Soultronic Orange or Performance Blue Matte paint, gets eyeballs on it wherever it goes.

The interior, albeit cheap-looking in certain spots, comes across like a fighter pilot cockpit thanks to big screens for infotainment and instrumentation with robust driving data, a multi-function sport steering wheel, and body-hugging Alcantara sports seats. It’s a great place to conduct driving business.

#3: The 2026 Hyundai IONIQ 9 is a concept EV brought to life

The brand’s first three-row electric SUV looks a helluva lot like the brilliant IONIQ 7 concept that was revealed back in 2021, and that’s a very good thing. The ultra-modern design uses what Hyundai calls an ‘Aerosthetic” exterior incorporating aerodynamics and futuristic styling.

It has its own fresh configuration of the IONIQ 5’s Parametric Pixel LEDs, and the long curved roofline juxtaposes nicely with the chunky fender treatment. Pill-shaped flush door handles and long LED light strips in the front and back round out a stunning exterior. It was never going to get the full glass liftgate or the coach doors from the concept, but this is pretty close to the original.

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The cabin is the most updated version of Hyundai’s very airy interior aesthetic. The expansive and linear dash, huge glass panels, clean door cards, elegant steering wheel, and ample room in all three rows make it a welcoming environment for all occupants. The vivid twin 12.3” screens for instrumentation and infotainment prove that it’s not just the premium brands doing fancy tech.

#4: The 2026 Hyundai Palisade is the brand's rightful flagship SUV

The upcoming 2nd generation Palisade is the newest reveal by the brand, and it’s a beauty. It’s not resting on the laurels of the 1st generation’s success, bringing a dramatic redesign both inside and out.

The first thing you notice is opulence from every angle. The new, more refined horizontal 5-bar grille design eschews the multifaceted version found today, and the tiered LED DRL stacks blend well with the bumper trim. The taillights mimic the front LEDs perfectly, and the silver hockey stick trim for the D-pillar adds a hefty dose of refinement.

If the current Santa Fe is pulling off a modernized version of the Land Rover Defender, then the new Palisade has its design sights set squarely on the Range Rover. Watch devotees of the latter start moving towards the former.

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The new Palisade’s interior takes every Hyundai interior element and brings it up a notch. The ovular and expansive dash shape sets the tone for the rest of the cabin’s details, like the center stack, vents, and even the center console.

Despite being a modern SUV, the Palisade taps into the past by making a center seat for the front row capable of seating 9 occupants. That shapely center console folds up to add a middle passenger and achieve a functional styling victory. The big twin screens get capped by upper dash trim in the Palisade, giving it a more upscale look than any other Hyundai.

Final thoughts

There is nobody doing cutting-edge design like Hyundai today. We mean no one. Their approach to innovative styling, features, and the resulting sales increases mean they’re doing a lot that resonates with customers who want more for their money without having to go to six-figure pricing.

At the same time, Hyundai has continued to pack tremendous value into every model. Coupled with some of the best car designs in the industry, the brand now sells the kind of cars you want to buy rather than the kind of cars you have to buy.