SangYup Lee, Head of Hyundai and Genesis Global Design, has been named the 2023 World Car Person of the Year, by the World Car Awards jury panel representing over 100 industry experts and journalists – including Electrifying.com’s own Ginny Buckley.

This is the second consecutive World Car Person of the Year win for Hyundai Motor Group. Luc Donckerwolke, President and Chief Creative Officer was last year’s winner. The Hyundai IONIQ 5 was also named the 2022 World Car of the Year, heading a list of winners in which only one car wasn’t a pure electric model. Hyundai won three 2022 awards in total, also taking Electric Vehicle of the Year and Car Design of The Year.

This year, the WCA jurors recognised Lee as the creative mind behind some of the most innovative concept and production cars unveiled in 2022, including Hyundai IONIQ 6, the new KONA and the N Vision 74.

The jury noted that Lee’s strong design philosophy, vision and leadership have been instrumental in shaping Hyundai’s new design language, as shown by the brand’s recent successes.

Lee said: “This honour is not the recognition of an individual but a testament to a shared collective passion for creativity encouraged by the dedication of Hyundai top management who set us high standards to achieve. It is the unwavering diligence of the many talented people who contribute to making Hyundai Design what it is today. Hyundai’s exceptional leadership presents us with thought-provoking challenges, and each design team member in turn provides invaluable support to deliver successful results. Hyundai is taking on many challenges, but this is just the beginning. We believe our greatest achievements lie ahead of us.”

Eligibility for the Person of the Year award demands candidates have made a significant contribution to the automotive industry with global repercussions during previous year. That contribution could include a significant impact to their brand or company, for example, or a significant safety, engineering, design or technical advancement or other benefit for the consumer. 

SangYup Lee started his career in Porsche and Pininfarina in 1998. Before he joined Hyundai in 2016, he was the Chief of Exterior and Advanced Design in Bentley, Chief Designer in Volkswagen Group, and Design Manager in GM. His work includes the Chevrolet Camaro, Corvette, Bentley Bentayga, Mulsanne, Flying Spur and EXP 10 Concept. 

He was one of five finalists for the 2023 World Car Person of the Year award. The others, fellow leaders in the auto industry, included: Wang Chuanfu, chairman and president of BYD, Stella Clarke, research engineer, open innovations, BMW Group, Peter Rawlinson, CEO and CTO, Lucid Motors, Naoyuki Sakamoto, chief engineer, GR Corolla, GAZOO Racing Company, Toyota Motor Corporation. Besides Luc Donckerwolke, previous winners have included Akio Toyoda, President and CEO of Toyota, and Carlos Tavares, CEO of PSA Group. 

The 2023 World Car of the year was announced on 5th April as the Hyundai Ioniq 6 - another one of SangYup's creations. Electric cars have won three of the last four awards, with the top prize going to the Jaguar I-Pace in 2019, the Volkswagen ID.4 in 2021 and the IONIQ 5 in 2022.

SangYup Lee scooped up several trophies for Hyundai at the event