SangYup Lee (, sometimes styled as Sang-yup, Sangyup, or Sang Yup) is a Korean automobile designer employed by

Hyundai Motor Company Hyundai Motor Company, often abbreviated to Hyundai Motors ( ) and commonly known as Hyundai (, ; ), is a South Korean multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, and founded in 1967. Currently, the company o ...

as its Vice President of Design since June 2016. Prior to Hyundai, Lee worked for

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

(2000–09) and

Volkswagen AG Volkswagen AG (), known internationally as the Volkswagen Group, is a German multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. The company designs, manufactures and distributes passenger and commercial ...

(2010–16), where his notable designs included the Chevrolet Camaro (2010), Bentley Continental GT, and Bentley Flying Spur.

Early life and education

Lee attended an art

cram school A cram school, informally called crammer and colloquially also referred to as test-prep or exam factory, is a specialized school that trains its students to achieve particular goals, most commonly to pass the entrance examinations of high schoo ...

starting at the age of 12 and graduated from Hongik University with a degree in fine arts (sculpture). He came to the United States in 1995 to study automotive design at the

ArtCenter College of Design Art Center College of Design (stylized as ArtCenter College of Design) is a private art college in Pasadena, California. History ArtCenter College of Design was founded in 1930 in downtown Los Angeles as the Art Center School. In 1935, Fred ...

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

. That choice was inspired by the Korean manhwa and 1995 drama ''

Asphalt Man ''Asphalt Man'' () is a 1995 South Korean television series starring Lee Byung-hun, Choi Jin-sil, Jung Woo-sung, and Lee Young-ae. Based on the 1991 comic of the same title by manhwa artist Huh Young-man, it aired on SBS from May 17 to July 6, 19 ...

'', starring

Lee Byung-hun Lee Byung-hun (; born July 12, 1970) is a South Korean actor. He has received critical acclaim for his work in a wide range of genres, most notably ''Joint Security Area'' (2000); ''A Bittersweet Life'' (2005); ''The Good, the Bad, the Weird'' ...

as an automobile designer, as well as a chance encounter with a Porsche in Itaewon.

Career

While he was studying at the ArtCenter College of Design, Lee participated in internships at

Pininfarina Pininfarina S.p.A. (short for Carrozzeria Pininfarina) is an Italian car design firm and coachbuilder, with headquarters in Cambiano, Turin, Italy. The company was founded by Battista "Pinin" Farina in 1930. On 14 December 2015, the Indian mu ...

and Porsche AG. After his graduation in 1999, Lee was hired by General Motors to lead the design for the next-generation Corvette. In addition to the fifth-generation Camaro, Lee was responsible for the design of the

Cadillac Sixteen The Cadillac Sixteen is a concept car first developed and presented by Cadillac in 2003. The vehicle is equipped with a Cadillac proprietary-developed aluminum 32-valve V16 engine displacing 13.6 liters (829 cu. in; 13,584 cc), which was exclus ...

(2003), Buick Velite (2004), and Stingray Corvette (2009) concepts, the latter of which was featured as the character "Sideswipe" in the film '' Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen''. While at GM, the peripatetic Lee lived in Detroit, Japan, Italy, and Australia while developing various designs, including projects with

Gruppo Bertone Gruppo Bertone, commonly known as Bertone, was an Italian industrial design company which specialized in car styling, coachbuilding and manufacturing. It formerly was also a car manufacturing company. Bertone styling was distinctive, with most ...

and

Holden Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. It was an Australian automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter which sold cars under its own marque in Australia. In its last thre ...

. After ten years at GM, Lee joined Volkswagen as chief exterior designer at the VW/Audi Advanced studio in January 2010, under Executive Design Director

Jens Manske Jens may refer to: * Jens (given name), a list of people with the name * Jens (surname), a list of people * Jens, Switzerland, a municipality * 1719 Jens, an asteroid See also * Jensen (disambiguation) * Jenssi Joensuu (; krl, Jovensuu; ) i ...

. That studio initially was in Simi Valley before moving to Santa Monica in 2006 and then Oxnard in 2020, being renamed Design Center California in the process. Walter de Silva, head of VW Group Design, changed the focus of the California studio from concepts to more practical cars in 2009. At DCC, Lee said he learned "all of design's precision execution" while acting in an internal design consulting role to other VW/Audi studios. In 2013, Lee was promoted to head the exterior design group of

Bentley Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded as Bentley Motors Limited by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Cricklewood, North ...

under

Luc Donckerwolke Luc Donckerwolke (born 19 June 1965) is a Belgian automotive designer, president, and chief creative officer of the Hyundai Motor Group and the Genesis automotive brand. Prior to joining the Hyundai Motor Group, he was the design director at Vol ...

, Bentley's director of design. Lee left Bentley for Hyundai in June 2016, where he was reunited with his former boss, Donckerwolke. He later described the sense of freedom he gained from the move: "Bentley's legacy is unbelievable, but this weight from the legacy on your shoulders is quite heavy, so when you do the sketch you ask, is this 'Bentley' enough? With Hyundai you have more freedom." Lee was named the head of the Hyundai Global Design Center in 2018 and later was promoted to Executive Vice President of Design in December 2021, replacing

Peter Schreyer Peter Schreyer (born 1953) is a German automobile designer widely known for his design contributions to the Audi TT. He has been the chief design officer at Kia Motors since 2006 and, on 28 December 2012, he was named one of three presidents of ...

Notable designs

Chevrolet Corvette Concept - CIAS 2012 (6950737373)

concept, 2003 * Buick Velite concept, 2004 * Stingray Corvette concept, 2009 * Chevrolet Camaro, 2010 * Bentley Bentayga, 2015 (with Donckerwolke) *

Bentley EXP 10 Speed 6 The Bentley EXP 10 Speed 6 is a hybrid concept car by Bentley launched in 2015 at the Geneva Motor Show. Overview The Bentley EXP 10 is two seat coupe that was smaller than the Bentley Continental GT at the time. It takes its name from the ...

concept, 2015 (with Donckerwolke) *

Hyundai N Vision 74 The Hyundai N Vision 74 is a concept car developed by Hyundai. The sporty car was unveiled at N Day 2022, an event organized by the Hyundai N performance division in mid-July 2022 at Busan, South Korea, alongside the Hyundai RN22e concept based o ...

concept, 2022

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Sangyup South Korean designers Korean automobile designers 1960s births Living people