Luc Donckerwolke

Luc Donckerwolke (born 19 June 1965) is a Belgian automotive designer and the former head of design operations for five years at Hyundai and Genesis until 2020.[1] Prior to Hyundai he was the design director at Volkswagen Group's Bentley, Lamborghini Škoda and Audi.[2][3]

Background

Donckerwolke was born in Lima, Peru, and educated in various South American and African countries before studying industrial engineering in Brussels and transportation design in Vevey, Switzerland.[4]

He has a residence in Peru and in Brussels. His hobbies include motor racing, old cars, foreign cultures and learning languages. He speaks Dutch, Italian, French, Spanish, English, German, Korean, Mandarin, Japanese and Swahili.[5]

Career

Donckerwolke had begun his design career in 1990 with Peugeot in France. In 1992 he moved to Ingolstadt for a 2-year stint at Audi Design. He spent 1994 to 1996 working at the Škoda Design Center Mlada Boleslav in the Czech Republic, where he contributed to the 1996 Škoda Octavia and 1999 Škoda Fabia.

After Škoda he returned to Audi responsible for concept development, operating out of Ingolstadt for one year and Munich for another. It was during this time he worked on the Audi A4 Avant and the Audi R8 Le Mans Racer. During his time at Audi, Donckerwolke was also responsible for designing the Audi A2 concept and production car which was known at the time for being innovative and ahead of its time like most of his designs.

He was head of design at Lamborghini from 1998, where he was responsible for the 2001 Lamborghini Diablo VT 6.0, 2002 Lamborghini Murciélago and 2004 Lamborghini Gallardo, winning the 'Red Dot Award' in 2003 in recognition for his work on them. He also worked with Walter de'Silva to produce the 2006 Lamborghini Miura concept.

In September 2005, Donckerwolke was appointed SEAT Design Director overseeing the design of future SEAT models, replacing Walter de'Silva who was promoted to oversee design for the entire Audi Brand Group. He was tasked with progressing SEAT design from Walter de'Silva's directorship to a look that would bring increased brand awareness and sales to the marque. His first visible contribution to SEAT was the SEAT Tribu concept, unveiled at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show, and later penned the 2008 SEAT Ibiza.

In September 2012, Donckerwolke was appointed Bentley Director of Design, overseeing the design of future Bentley models, replacing Dirk van Braeckel who moved to Volkswagen Group design. In June 2015 Bentley announced Stefan Sielaff as his successor: "Mr Sielaff replaces Mr Donckerwolke who has decided to leave the business and Volkswagen AG".[6]

In November 2015, he was appointed to lead Hyundai Motor Group's Genesis luxury brand from 2016[7] and will work together with Hyundai-Kia's chief designer Peter Schreyer. Donckerwolke replaced Peter Schreyer as chief design officer of Hyundai Motor Group in 2017 [8], position from which he resigned in April 2020 [9].

Designs

References
  1. Meiners, Jens (April 29, 2020). "Hyundai/Genesis Design Chief Luc Donckerwolke Resigns". caranddriver.com. Car and Driver. Retrieved May 11, 2020. The man who reshaped Hyundai and Genesis design leaves at his own request.
  2. Meiners, Jens (29 April 2020). "Hyundai/Genesis Design Chief Luc Donckerwolke Resigns". Car and Driver. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  3. "Design : Luc Donckerwolke, nouveau patron du style avancé chez le groupe Volkswagen Actus et Tests auto sur Turbo.fr : Design : Luc Donckerwolke, nouveau patron du style avancé chez le groupe Volkswagen". www.turbo.fr. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  4. 'Take a Seat Mr Donckerwolke', 4Car 17/09/07, , accessed 17 Sept 2007
  5. 'Luc Donckerwolke, Head of Lamborghini Design, Curriculum Vitae', Audi AG 15/12/03, , accessed 17 Sept 2007
  6. "BENTLEY ANNOUNCES NEW DESIGN DIRECTOR". www.bentleymedia.com. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  7. "Hyundai Turning Genesis Into Own Luxury Brand". www.techtimes.com. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  8. "Another ex-VW man to head Hyundai design". www.motoring.com.au. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  9. "Donckerwolke leaves Hyundai". www.thedrive.com. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
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