Hyundai and Genesis brand chief designer SangYup Lee talked about why the newly introduced Hyundai Santa Fe SUV has such a wild design. It approximates the details of the appearance of the novelty, the aerodynamic properties and the fact that it does not look as big in person as in the photos.
The fifth generation Hyundai Santa Fe SUV came like a bolt from the blue, especially in terms of design. Not in the least does it resemble not only its predecessor, but also nothing else in the brand’s range. “It’s a big change from the previous model,” acknowledges SangYup Lee, chief designer of Hyundai and Genesis.
“It is one of our most important models. It cannot fail,” stated Lee further for the British magazine Autocar, who interviewed him at the presentation of the new product. So why is the design team taking such a risk with a very different look?
“We started this project four and a half years ago. We keep watching the data to predict future trends. This was before the pandemic, and one key thing kept popping up – how mainstream outdoor culture had become. So we chose a route that covered both urban style and the outdoors.” explains Lee.
Despite the new Santa Fe looking like a big box, here too form comes second to function. “It has a drag coefficient Cd of 0.29. We paid a lot of attention to aerodynamics. It has an active blind in the front, which is quite unusual for this segment.” and the round fenders are also a big benefit, continues the chief designer. The low coefficient of air resistance is a relatively big success, it follows from his words, because the car is box-shaped “aerodynamic disaster”.
“When you have a boxy SUV, the balance of proportions is extremely important. It has simple surfaces with lots of volume, supported by 21″ wheels that are unheard of in this segment. Even though it’s a box, we wanted to add precise design details,” continues Lee.
And why does Santa Fe look so big in the photos? “Because the corners are pulled into the space as much as possible. Notice the giant rear end, that’s a large area and using the full width is a design element.” explains.
But this is also reflected in the width of the entrance opening, which is almost 1.3 meters. “It’s a space for living, not just for transporting cargo,” he thinks of the backs of SUVs in general Lee.
The interior is dominated by a giant curved display, but the air conditioning is controlled by classic buttons. “Of course it’s classic buttons, because you use it all the time,” says Lee. “Until there is level 4 or 5 autonomous driving, the most important thing is to keep your eyes on the road; everything must be easy to control. That’s why we didn’t get rid of hard buttons,” supplies.
In addition to them, passengers will also find a bunch of drink holders on board. “Each seat has two large cup holders and each seat has a USB port,” says Lee, noting that this is how the interior designers thought about the family’s use of the car.
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2023-08-14 06:00:00
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