SangYup Lee

SangYup Lee (; sometimes styled as Sang-yup, Sangyup, or Sang Yup; born 22 November 1969) is a South Korean automobile designer employed by Hyundai Motor Company as its Vice President of Design since June 2016. Prior to Hyundai, Lee worked for General Motors (2000–09) and Volkswagen AG (2010–16), where his notable designs included the Chevrolet Camaro, Bentley Continental GT, and Bentley Flying Spur.

Early life and education SangYup Lee was born on 22 November 1969, in Seoul, South Korea. He attended an art cram school starting at the age of 12 and graduated from Hongik University with a degree in fine arts (sculpture). He came to the United States in 1995 to study automotive design at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California.

Career text=I grew up in Korea with cars like Sephia and Elantra. I had little exposure to the world of sports cars, but that ended up working as an advantage. I had a fresh take on the old classic [Chevrolet Camaro]. — Lee Sang-yup, 2010 interview with The Korea Times In addition to the fifth-generation Camaro, Lee was responsible for the design of the Cadillac Sixteen (2003), Buick Velite (2004), and Stingray Corvette (2009) concepts, the latter of which was featured as the character "Sideswipe" in the film Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. While at GM, the peripatetic Lee lived in Detroit, Japan, Italy, and Australia while developing various designs, including projects with Gruppo Bertone and Holden. That studio initially was in Simi Valley before moving to Santa Monica in 2006 and then Oxnard in 2020, being renamed Design Center California in the process. Walter de Silva, head of VW Group Design, changed the focus of the California studio from concepts to more practical cars in 2009. At DCC, Lee said he learned "all of design's precision execution" while acting in an internal design consulting role to other VW/Audi studios. In 2013, Lee was promoted to head the exterior design group of Bentley under Luc Donckerwolke, Bentley's director of design.

Lee left Bentley for Hyundai in June 2016, where he was reunited with his former boss, Donckerwolke. Lee was named the head of the Hyundai Global Design Center in 2018 and later was promoted to Executive Vice President of Design in December 2021, replacing Peter Schreyer.

Notable designs

Cadillac Sixteen concept, 2003 Bentley Bentayga, 2015 (with Donckerwolke) Bentley EXP 10 Speed 6 concept, 2015 (with Donckerwolke) Genesis GV80, 2020 Hyundai Ioniq 7 concept, 2021 Hyundai N Vision 74 concept, 2022