The World Car Awards bestowed the ‘2022 World Car Person of the Year’ honors to Luc Donckerwolke, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice President for Design and Chief Creative Officer.
Hyundai Chief Creative Officer Luc Donckerwolke
A total of 102 journalists from 33 countries voted for Donckerwolke to take home the prestigious award. It represents the significant contribution he has made to the global automotive industry in 2021.
Hyundai's top creative succeeded last year’s winner Akio Toyoda, President and CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation, who did a brilliant job for his own company amid the pandemic. The Japanese marque led the global car sales in 2020, snapping Volkswagen’s five-year streak.
According to the World Car Awards, Donckerwolke wowed the world with designs for the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, and Genesis GV60. For the uninitiated, the three said Korean car brands are all under a single parent company known as Hyundai Motor Group.
Hyundai Ioniq 5
Donckerwolke designed new models that flawlessly reflected the Korean automotive company’s plans towards electrification. In addition, his work on the restomod Pony and Grandeur models which paid homage to Korea’s car heritage were commended.
“I am honored to receive the Person of the Year award and would like to thank all of the jury members and the valued team at Hyundai Motor Group, without whom this would not have been possible,” said Donckerwolke.
“I have worked for many companies and brands over my career and I’m delighted at the recognition the Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis brands have received,” he added.
From left to right: Pony, Grandeur
Included in the top 5 finalists for the 2022 World Car Person of the Year are Tata Managing Director Shailesh Chandra, executive producers James Gay-Rees and Paul Martin, General Motors Executive Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter, and Ford F-150 Lightning Chief Engineer Linda Zhang.
Chandra managed to put Tata’s name on the map with his electrification plans. Similarly, Gay-Rees and Martin attracted a massive number of new fans to Formula 1 via their Drive to Survive series on streaming media service Netflix.
Meanwhile, Juechter reminded the world how sports cars should be with the launching of the 8th-gen Chevrolet Corvette. Lastly, Zhang helped Ford take one step further into the future with the introduction of the Blue Oval company’s first-ever electric full-size pickup truck.
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