Nascent automotive brand wins top designers, major awards

As a young luxury brand with a special focus on design, it is not surprising that Genesis, which was established in 2015 in South Korea, has been a magnet for attracting globally experienced car designers.

Filippo Perini is one of the latest veteran designers to join the brand. He has been the chief designer at the Genesis Advanced Design Studio in Europe for two months now.

Before joining Genesis, Perini worked for major automakers including Alfa Romeo, Audi and Lamborghini. Most recently, he was the head of design and design innovation at Italdesign.

"I am fascinated by the possibility of contributing to the evolution of the Genesis brand," he said.

Billed as progressive and audacious to target brands with a century of history, Genesis holds a mission irresistible to any designer: create the finest automobiles and related products and services for connoisseurs around the globe.

Luc Donckerwolke, Genesis head of design, is happy that Perini has joined his team.

Donckerwolke is an awe-inspiring name in the car designer circle. The Belgian stylist who speaks 10 languages oversaw design at brands including Audi and Bentley, and helped in the revival of Lamborghini.

Since 2015, he has been navigating the nascent South Korean brand to compete with old-school European rivals.

"We are sporty, yet elegant. We are not conventional in our architecture. We have no ballast of the past. We are absolutely free to define our identity," he said in an interview with Automotive News.

The results have been extremely fruitful and encouraging, with the brand a frequent winner of top-class awards in the industry.

In August, the Genesis Essentia Concept won a Gold International Design Excellence Award, known as an IDEA, for Automotive and Transportation, for its interpretation of the "Athletic Elegance "design paradigm, while providing a vision of future Genesis product performance and technology.

The Essentia Concept, which was first unveiled in March 2018, is the brand's first electric Gran Turismo concept car.

"We are extremely proud to be recognized by the IDEA with the Essentia Concept which shows the Genesis brand's vision and future," said Donckerwolke.

The IDEA has been considered one of the world's top three design awards, with the other two being Red Dot and iF.

"For a new brand, each design element becomes part of the legacy for the brand, so our goal is to design a car as well as connect it with Genesis DNA."

The iF also awarded the Essentia Concept in its Product Design category in February.

Last year Genesis Retail Design and Genesis Sound Design were recognized for "best of the best "award by Red Dot.

Genesis production models have often taken home much-coveted accolades as well.

In September, the G70 sedan was recognized as the leading Aspirational Luxury Car in the 2019 Ideal Vehicle Awards presented by AutoPacific, a leading automotive research consultancy.

In February the model was awarded the 2019 North American Car of the Year.

In late 2017 the GV80 Concept SUV and G80 Sport sedan won GOOD DESIGN awards from the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design.

In 2018, Genesis was named Highest Satisfaction Premium Brand, and the G90 flagship sedan was awarded the AutoPacific Vehicle Satisfaction Award for Luxury Car.

"The ideal vehicle awards measure how well a vehicle meets the desires of its buyers," said Dan Hall, vice-president at AutoPacific.

"This award shows that Genesis understands their buyers and has developed a car that is ideal for them."

(China Daily 11/05/2019 page19)