TURNING POINT

TRACING THE DESIGNS THAT DEFINE LUC DONCKERWOLKE, HYUNDAI’S CHIEF DESIGN OFFICER, AND THE CREATOR OF THE BRAND’S NEW SENSUOUS SPORTINESS DESIGN PHILOSOPHY

- SIMRAN RASTOGI

Michel Vaillant is a name that’s gone from comic books to television series and even a film. And is a name I’m going to be thinking of the next time I see any new Hyundai out and about. You see, Michel Vaillant is the lead character in a long-running French comic book of the same name by Jean Granot published in the early ’60s, about a young F1 racing driver’s escapades on track. Apart from probably having influenced a handful of kids to get into motorsport, the comic series is also the reason a young Luc Donckerwolke started drawing cars in the first place.

And now, decades later, Donckerwolke has come full circle, sketching cars in his free time for the very comic that inspired his choice of profession! That choice took him from an electromechanical degree from Brussels to a transportation degree from ArtCenter College of Design (Europe), and finally, in designing, as well as overseeing, cars that have helped turn the image of its maker at the time.

After a few years at Peugeot at the turn of the ’90s, Donckerwolke’s career really only took off when he moved to Audi a few years later, at a time when the brand was floundering. The Berlin Wall had fallen, a global recession was coming, and Audi didn’t quite hold the same cachet as a BMW, or Mercedes. There was also an undergoing shift in car design. Boxy, angled designs were giving way to softer curves, and Audi couldn’t be left behind.