By Moses Akaigwe
Hyundai Motor Group (the Group) has won multiple honours at the 2022 Autocar ‘Britain’s Best Car Awards’. The five accolades include three product wins: ‘Best Electric Car’ for the EV6, ‘Best Large Car’ for Hyundai Santa Fe, and ‘Best Affordable Driver’s Car’ for the Hyundai i20 N, as well as individual recognition for the Group’s Executive Design Advisor Peter Schreyer and Hyundai’s Global Design Head SangYup Lee.
The awards haul reaffirms the Group’s hard-earned position as an automotive industry leader in design and product development.
Commenting on his award, designer Peter Schreyer said: “It is an honor to receive this Lifetime Achievement Award. I have been fortunate to have been involved in many projects over my 40+ year design career and privileged to work with some very talented teams to develop vehicles that have resonated with customers the world over.”
“In 2006, I was given the opportunity to join Kia and the freedom to conceive a desirable design brand. It was a truly enriching moment in my career. Thanks to visionary leadership of the Group and the trust they placed in me, we led the transformation of the Hyundai Motor Group and created a legacy the company can build on for the future. Since then, I have been involved in many successful programs for the Hyundai, Kia and Genesis brands, and I look forward to continuing my work for the Group,” he added.
The Autocar Awards recognize the industry’s highest achievers and, for the first time at the event, some of the very best cars on sale in the UK across 10 categories.
The judges voted the Hyundai Santa Fe SUV the ‘Best Large Car’, while the turbocharged i20 N came away with the ‘Best Affordable Driver’s Car’ award. Kia’s first dedicated battery electric vehicle, the EV6, was named Autocar’s ‘Best Electric Car’, adding to the car’s impressive collection of awards since its launch last year.
Che Young Kim, Head of Product Division at Hyundai Motor Group, commented: “Winning in these highly competitive product categories is a significant achievement for the Group. It’s testament to the hard work that goes into producing class-leading products, and to the amazing individuals we have leading and working in our design and product development teams. The Hyundai Santa Fe, Hyundai i20 N and Kia EV6 may be very different cars, but the same ingenuity and technical prowess goes into their creation.”
On receiving his ‘Design Hero’ award, Hyundai’s SangYup Lee said: “Looking back through the previous winners of Autocar’s Design Hero Award, it’s a real honor to now be sitting alongside some of the people I consider to be my own design heroes. Thank you to the team at Autocar for recognizing the work of the Hyundai Global Design Centre with such a prestigious accolade.”