Hyundai and its luxury brand Genesis are speeding up their production time. In fact, the company is aiming to double it.
According to Automotive News on Friday, senior vice president of design Luc Donckerwolke seeks to speed up Hyundai and Genesis’ already quick production time from about three years to a year and a half. He said that he predicts the life cycle from initial drawings to the start of production will get shorter at every stage.
This will enable Hyundai and Genesis to keep up with developing trends in the automotive industry more flexibly, to respond to trends more quickly, and to offer new products in an industry that is becoming ever more competitive.
The shift in design time comes along with the opening of a new, large design studio in Hwaseong, South Korea.
Many of the features of the new studio were chosen especially in order to enable the product design cycles to move faster. The work spaces will be more open and over twice as large as the previous Hyundai and Genesis location, and include generous space for clay modeling and 3D printing. Turntables both inside a presentation room and on an outdoor patio will allow designers to examine cars — both their own and their rivals’ – from all angles as needed.
The facility allows for digital work at every stage of the design process, which Hyundai implemented in order to make communication between designers and engineers more quick and easy.
There are other changes happening at Hyundai, too, as both the flagship brand and Genesis introduce a new design language with their next models. Hyundai and Genesis will display their new look in the Kona compact crossover vehicle and the G70 sports sedan, respectively.
