Hyudai has recently recruited Bentley designer, Sangyup Lee, to team up with a former colleague Luc Donckerwolke. Lee will work under Donckerwolke as the VP of design with “ambitious goals of building a world-class luxury brand.” These two had previously worked together designing vehicles for Bentley from 2012 through May of 2015 designing vehicles such as the Bentley Bentayga and EXP 10 Speed 6 concept. This move has not been a one off decision, but rather a strategic play to build a new brand edged towards higher end cars, by hiring others such as Manfred Fitzgerald a former Lamborghini brand and design director to the position of a Senior VP.
I am excited to see how Lee and Donckerwolke can transform the Genesis brand to be able to rival luxury pillars such as Cadillac, Lexus, Buick, Acura, and BMW. Having seen the designs that these two have worked on I do not doubt that Genesis will make its mark on the luxury market here in a few years. The article also discusses how they expect the luxury market to shift.
“In the future, as disruptive technologies kick in, luxury is going to be about experience. People are going to look for a special experience rather than something special to own.”
Given the graph above there is definitely a potential for this market and I am interested to see which company this new development will draw from.
Article link here
The concept of the potential shifting of the luxury market towards “experience”really stood out to me. I find it intriguing that people are buying luxury cars for the driving “experience” rather than just showing off their car to others. I wonder if this shift in the market will influence the top luxury brands such as BMW, Audi, Lexus, etc. in how they make their products. Maybe they will start to focus more on the smoothness, acceleration, and other aspects of cars to improve the quality of the driving experience.
Sam, the quote above said other “disruptive technologies to kick in”, and I was wondering if what technologies this was referring to or if it was just technology in general? Moreover, I can see how the self-automative car might back up this quote, in that people have begun desiring a car to get to point A to B. So I can see how luxury vehicles might be trying to capture the demand of customers who simply want to drive a Lambo, BMW, or Bentley for fun rather than for need.
Reading this made me wonder if “driving experience” refers to the engine and manufacturing of the car or if it refers to the experience inside the car. For example, cars now can be equipped with internet and other features. The comfort of other features, such as seating and audio, can truly add to the experience of the driver and the rider. In my opinion, new technology and features within the car would better the driving experience.
I am curious to see if Hyundai will be successful in the luxury market. As was explained to us during our visit to Ford, these other cars that Hyundai is competing against are “aspirational vehicles” that people buy for the emotion. I am not sure that Hyundai will be able to market an aspirational vehicle under their own name. Perhaps they will be able to spin off a related marquis like Toyota and Honda did with Lexus and Acura respectively.
To me the “driving experience” is how it makes you feel to drive that particular car. When you drive this car, do you feel young again? Do you feel like a million bucks and that people envy you? Do you feel good knowing you could roast the back tire with the simple flex of your leg and movement of the pedal? I think everyone defines their ideal driving experience differently because they are after a “feel” specific only to them. But in general, a better driving, higher quality, luxury type vehicle fulfills more people’s ideal “driving experience” then your standard Camry.
So what do customers mean by “driving experience”? — comments by several. Assuming there’s some commonility (here for the very well-off who can afford luxury vehicles) how does an OEM strategize this, both delivery and marketing?