 2015 Hyundai Genesis-John Krsteski Interview. Click image to enlarge |
Article and photos by Jonathan Yarkony
The Hyundai Genesis was a bold move upmarket by Hyundai when it launched in 2008, squarely targeting the luxury sedan market with rear-wheel drive and V8 power, but its styling was derivative and soft. Not so this time around, with a dominant, bold grille and heroic proportions, and another level of luxury on the inside to challenge traditional premium brands. We sat down with the man behind the design, John Krsteski, Design Manager with Hyundai Design North America working out of Hyundai’s Irvine, California design studio, to ask him about the Genesis design and Hyundai’s aspirations.
What were your design influences that inspired the Genesis sedan styling?
From a design inspiration standpoint we really wanted to push the elegance of the car. One of the things we were heavily inspired by was knowing the sleek and sheer profile we have in our current cars. We didn’t want to lose that, we wanted to push and see if we could put that into such a big vehicle. And we did that with the proportions and the overall profile of the car. We were able to get the canopy as far back onto the body of the car as possible. So the proportions were the biggest thing we wanted to establish and get the car to feel as sleek as possible.
   2015 Hyundai Genesis-John Krsteski Interview. Click image to enlarge |
What is the importance of the Genesis to Hyundai, which demographic are you targeting?
Ideally we’re going after the younger, more affluent buyers. The ones that are certainly not afraid to go in an untraditional direction. We certainly pushed the modern, premium aspect of the car to cater to those types of buyers, and then with the identity of the car we pushed to establish a really strong presence with the front grille and start building some equity into the Genesis lineup.
What identity where you trying to express with the grille?
It’s goes back to the “modern premium”, which is part of our Fluidic Sculpture 2.0. The grille architecture itself comes from, if you take a look at our SUV lineup it has a hexagon grille. Even the Elantra has a hexagon grille but then the Sonata has a wing-type grill. So it’s really the birth of fusing those together to form a new hexagon grille that is native to the Genesis cars.
How does Genesis reflect Hyundai’s future design direction?
A lot of it can come from the design vocabulary of this car. A lot of the lines of the car are going to become more precise. There is a lot more tension in the lines and a sense of direction, which is part of our Fluidic Sculpture 2.0.
What are your favourite elements of the design?
I think the overall proportion and stance. From a design standpoint you can do a lot of different things to a car but if it doesn’t have the right proportions and stance it’s always going to have a bit of weakness to it. This car, based on the engineering and architecture that was given to us to work with, was really kind of a dream for us.
To me it has a certain expression of cars from a previous era, like Packards from the 30s and 40s. Were there any specific cars you looked at, since Hyundai’s history doesn’t really date that far back?
I don’t know if there are any cars in history, but one of the things we pushed for was to get as much wheelbase as possible. To really stretch that wheelbase out to allow us to get the cabin to feel like it sits rearward and getting the front and rear overhangs as short as possible. That gives you that really nice long hood on the car as well.
 2015 Hyundai Genesis-John Krsteski Interview. Click image to enlarge |
Are you looking to unseat anyone in particular?
Not to unseat, no. But we wanted to leapfrog the Genesis from where it is with the current model. I think we’ve done plenty of examples. For example the Sonata, where we leapfrogged forward from where we were, and I think the Elantra is an example, too. So this current Genesis, though it was a competent design, it didn’t polarize anybody either. So with this design we weren’t going out to polarize people, but we did want to make a statement.
With Peter Schreyer taking on more of a role with Hyundai, and not just Kia alone, what influence did he have on the Genesis?
We work with Peter today, and he’s visited our studio quite a few times, but this car was already developed. But from conversations I know he is pleased with the car.
   2015 Hyundai Genesis-John Krsteski Interview. Click image to enlarge |
Was there any thought of creating a sub-brand for luxury cars like this one?
We get that a lot but we’re confident that you don’t need to develop a sub-brand to create a premium car. That’s the beauty of Hyundai – we’re able to develop a premium car without developing over an existing chassis.
How is manufacturing technology freeing up designers to do new things?
Certainly we’re seeing our interior design team being able to centralize things down to one touch point, and things like that. So I think we’ll see a lot more of that.
Are there any specific tools you are using that help?
Digital, yeah. I’m curious to see how 3-D printing impacts the process. A lot of the time you’ll create something digitally and then in the tube and wait a while for it to come to life, but now you’ll be able to create something, print it real quick and have a look at it.
Is interior or exterior design more important in this segment?
They have two different objectives. With the exterior it’s about emotion and attraction. You’re trying to get people to draw into the beauty of the car. With the interior you want to create the most amazing experience for them. So I think they’re equally important. Because if you have a beautiful car and a horrible experience inside then you’ve only won half the battle.
How do you balance the interior design’s aesthetic appeal with functionality?
That’s where we’ve become true industrial designers with the ability to solve problems. When you really get into the interior that’s when you get into your industrial-design mode and think about the relationship with shapes and objects to one another.
Were there any things that you had to put aside because of cost efficiency?
Not on this car no. We had a lot of the things we wanted. Like being able to slim up the technology on the car, they gave us the LEDs on the fog lamps and the tail lamps, that jewel-like element in the tail lamp wouldn’t have been able to happen without that.
The rear touchdown point of the back glass, we pushed hard to get that sweet profile and we were able to get that, too.
   2015 Hyundai Genesis-John Krsteski Interview. Click image to enlarge |
How much of a new car design originates from your creative spark as a designer, and how much is consumer feedback?
I think a lot of focus groups help validate our thinking sometimes. Occasionally you get a few nuggets here and there that translate into something tangible. I know that when we’re in the creative process we do reference back to some of the key things that people have shared with us and try to see how we can translate that into our design process, too.
What’s your favourite Hyundai design?
I’m passionate about the Veloster, for its unique character, I think that made a statement. I think the Genesis Coupe is a fun car as well, but the Sonata was fantastic. From an overall Hyundai standpoint I appreciate the Sonata the most because that helped everyone realize the power of the Fluidic Sculpture design language.
What’s in your garage right now?
I have a 911, and a Santa Fe.
What are three words that describe you?
Driven, creative, serious [laughs].
