There was a time when the word Hyundai conjured up images of affordable, reliable econobox. In a now famous print ad the company ran in the United States the copy stated “What a 12,000 dollar Hyundai looks like” with an image of two red cars piled on top of each other. The whole point for the Korean carmaker was that it was cheap – it was competing against long-established brands in all markets. The problem with being perceived as a cheap and reliable brand is that the perception can stick. If you’d asked 100 people what words they’d associate with the brand a couple of years ago the words cheap and reliable would be high on the list. But today? That’s a different story. Now Hyundai has achieved something very few are able to. It is cool. Desirable, even. So how exactly did this happen?
The first thing to keep in mind, is that Hyundai has attempted to conquer cool before. With models like the late 1980s Scope and the Coupé from the mid-1990s, it sought to seduce people away from other fun compact sports cars. So, the DNA has been morphing for a while now. Fast forward to the 2020s and electric models like the Ioniq 5 are truly innovative in a marketplace that is still tepidly exploring what the move away from the combustion engine might allow us to do with our vehicles. The Ioniq 5 doesn’t shy away from retro-futurism and modulable cabin space. Then there’s the Ioniq 6, which has elements of a 90s Saab, a modern-day Porsche and the Nokia 8110 – but looks great. Both these models aren’t afraid to take a radical approach to dimensions and design.
Speaking of retro-futurism, the N Vision 74 is truly bonkers and continues to build on the N division’s motorsport pedigree. Forget the new DeLorean that was launched earlier this year, the N Vision 74 is the true inheritor of Marty McFly’s iconic 1980s run-around. It “is the first high performance Rolling Lab built on the most advanced hydrogen fuel cell.” I’m not entirely sure what that means – but it sounds very cool.
What makes Hyundai truly stand out today is ironically the lack of a unified design language for its suite of models. Look at any other carmaker and their offering looks like a matryoshka doll set – bigger and smaller versions of the same car designed to fit into various market sectors. With Hyundai each model is an innovation. It creates excitement about new releases and a genuine sense of curiosity. The brand has been quick to adapt to the market. Think back to when they launched their luxury Genesis model. Customers weren’t convinced Hyundai could do luxury, so they spun it off as a separate entity. That’s what they seem to be doing with the Ioniq and N ranges. Given their cars room to breathe, so they can take the company – and all of us – into the future.