Hyundai America Nabs BMW Designer Christopher Chapman

[LeMansX5]

Hyundai America Nabs BMW Designer Christopher Chapman

If there's one thing that Hyundai and Kia can lay claim to, is that both companies eventually understood the importance of design and made significant efforts to improve the styling of their vehicles in the past few years.
To achieve their goal, the Koreans didn't hesitate to bring in experienced designers from other brands, with the most notable transfer being that of Peter Schreyer from Audi who took over and revolutionized Kia's design language.

The South Korean group continues to inject its brands with foreign designers, with its latest hire being Christopher Chapman of former BMW fame. Chapman was named chief designer of the Hyundai Design Center in Irvine, California, and will be responsible for new vehicle and concept design for Hyundai.

“With over 22 years of experience in the industry working on esteemed automotive brands, Chris provides a level of talent that will help further our design portfolio,” said SukGeun Oh, Head of Design, Senior Executive Vice President Hyundai Design Center. “We are thrilled to have Christopher Chapman as chief designer for Hyundai and look forward to continuing the strong momentum of our vehicle designs.”

Chapman started his career at the Isuzu Technical Center of America in Cerritos, California, in 1989 and was the designer chosen for the exterior of the XU-1 show car, which won Best Concept at the 1993 Tokyo Motor Show.

In 1994, he joined the BMW Group at DesignworksUSA in California, where he designed the exteriors of the X5 Sport Activity Vehicle and X Coupe concept car before he moved to Germany to design the CS1 concept shown at the Geneva Auto Salon in 2002, followed by the first generation 1 Series production Coupe and its derivatives.

In 2002, Chapman was appointed Director of Automotive Design and has been responsible for leading several conceptual and production vehicles including the new X5, X3, Z4 and the first BMW 1-series E87.

“Christopher Chapman is an outstanding addition to the design team at HATCI,” said John Krafcik, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor America. “We are proud to add such a talented individual to lead the team of dedicated designers at HATCI that will continue to develop innovative vehicles for both the United States and global auto markets.”

[PersonaNonGrata]

Wow! Hyundai snagged a great designer. While he's no "flame surfacing" pioneer , he designed our beloved E53 so he's a star in my book.

If Hyundai gets the looks, get some power in the cars, and with their crazy warranty, they'll come on strong.

[blondboinsd]

I have to say I'm VERY impressed with the Kia/Hyundai's as of late. The new Sonata looks beautiful in person!

[LeMansX5]

Autoweek on Chapman's move.

Former BMW AG designer Christopher Chapman has been named chief designer for Hyundai Motor America, effective Jan. 3. He will lead new vehicle and concept design at the Hyundai Design Center in Irvine, Calif.

"We are thrilled to have Christopher Chapman as chief designer for Hyundai and look forward to continuing the strong momentum of our vehicle designs," Oh Suk-geun, senior executive vice president of the Hyundai Design Center, said in a statement.

Hyundai spokesman Jim Trainor said Chapman will replace Phil Zak, Hyundai's previous chief designer, who left in March to return to work with General Motors. Hyundai has been without a chief designer since then.

Chapman began his career with Isuzu Motors Ltd. in 1989, where he designed the award-winning XU-1 show car, which debuted at the 1993 Tokyo Motor Show.

He joined BMW in 1994 and was appointed director of automotive design in 2002. Chapman oversaw several advanced and production vehicles for the company, including the X5, X3, Z4 and the first BMW 1-series E87.

He also directed the transportation design department for BMW beginning in 2008, which works with multiple partners in the aviation, marine and public mobility sectors though BMW's DesignworksUSA group.

[vegasX5]

Originally Posted by blondboinsd

I have to say I'm VERY impressed with the Kia/Hyundai's as of late. The new Sonata looks beautiful in person!

I agree - I rent cars at least once a month, and I always look for the Hyundai Genesis first and take the Sonata next if they don't have it. I just rented a Sonata in Denver over Christmas, and it did extremely well in the snow and ice and got a little over 32 mpg in mixed driving!

[E61Silver]

I drove a Kia rental and it was not bad.