Lee SangYup (YS Lee), Vice President and Head of Hyundai Styling Group, was the head of a six-member team that worked on the design of the new Santro. Lee has worked with General Motors, Bentley and Volkswagen. He was part of the main design team for the Bentley Bentayga and Mulsanne as well as the Chevrolet Camaro and Corvette. He took time off for a chat with BusinessLine during the launch of the Santro. Excerpts:

What was your top priority while designing the new Santro?

The ‘tallboy’ concept in the first Santro was quite distinctive and iconic. The new Santro has that DNA but, yet, does not literally have that ‘tallboy’ character. It has modern diversion with a lot of curves and sportiness with practical use.

The new Santro has been made in such a way that a family of five members can sit comfortably. There is a lot of headroom and shoulder space for comfortable seating and the rear AC vent is also quite strong. There is a lot of visibility from inside when three people sit behind. We found from our research that the biggest draw for Indian customers is the exterior design. This made our job very difficult since these are fussy buyers who want the best. Balancing the USP of space inside and design outside was quite a challenge and I think we did well in the overall design language for the new Santro.

What was the reason for the bigger grille design?

Yes, it has gotten a lot bigger in the new Santro. The grille is actually a function of parts. People take it as a styling element but fundamentally it is a function especially in the Indian market where we need a lot of cooling flow. The front is unique because, from one corner to another, the grille is full with the headlamps sitting on top.

Were there any reference points to design the new Santro?

We did have a detailed look at the first generation Santro to begin with. However, we wanted a modern, contemporary design along with a lot of inspiration from India’s culture and diversity. Since the car was meant for the Indian market (to begin with), we asked ourselves why don’t we make a statement out of it?

So that was the approach and with the new Santro, we are pursuing a fresh design philosophy in Hyundai. Until now, we used a strategy called the family look that is on the lines of German brands such as BMW and Mercedes and uses the same face, architecture and bodyside. The future designs of Grand i10, Elite i20 and many others, including the new small SUV, will be bigger with sporty looks.

Does this mean that you are changing the design language of Hyundai?

Starting with this car, in the future, we will have a lot of different faces for Hyundai because we cover a lot of diverse customers. Every car has its own purpose and we want to emphasise on the real needs of customer lifestyle for our interiors and exteriors.

Hyundai will have multiple faces and different designs between the typology to fulfil the needs of lifestyle customers. Designing a family car is quite different from (designing) a sports car.

A sports car has bigger wheels and is low and the body sits on the top, so 50 per cent of the work is done because it is a great proportion to begin with. It also has a lower roof and is wide with limited space but people do not mind that. Seats are very stiff and one cannot drive for five hours unlike the Santro.

However, there are so many criteria for designing a ‘family car’ because wheels are smaller, the roof is bigger and one should have better visibility from inside. So, basically designing a Ferrari is easier than designing a minivan.

What was the inspiration behind the interior design?

The face of an elephant was the inspiration in designing the interiors at the front. There is a lot of space also for storing small things in the car, including one for placing an idol, which is typical in India but not in Korea. We have also created space for one-litre bottles in each of the four doors and consoles.

From the safety viewpoint, what went into designing the shell of the Santro?

This is an important point and since the car is about a family, it must be accompanied by safety features. Our engineers have kept that in mind too. In the meantime, design components like lamps, details and graphics were done to suit Indian road conditions. A lot of personalisation can also happen as per the customer’s choice.

Will design be impacted by future mobility trends like electric?

Definitely. There will be quite a lot of changes in design language in the future. Design processes have changed a lot already and there are many challenges. Technology is also seeing a change with more inside (touchscreen, voice control, etc).

However, we need to make things as simple as possible for our customers and not end up designing a car like the cockpit of an aircraft where it will be difficult to figure out its functionality.

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