Hyundai appoints former BMW designer Chris Chapman as head of its California design cente

According to Khabarkhodro, Hyundai America announced that former BMW designer Christopher Chapman has been appointed chief designer of the Hyundai Design Center in Irvine, California.

Chapman will be responsible for new vehicle and concept design for Hyundai. “With over 22 years of experience in the industry working on esteemed automotive brands, Chris provides a level of talent that will help further our design portfolio. We are thrilled to have Christopher Chapman as chief designer for Hyundai and look forward to continuing the strong momentum of our vehicle designs,” said SukGeun Oh, Head of Design, Senior Executive Vice President Hyundai Design Center in a press release.

Chapman started working for Isuzu in 1989 and was the designer of the exterior of the XU-1 show car, winner of the Best Concept award at the 1993 Tokyo Motor Show. A year later he joined BMW’s DesignworksUSA in California. Chapman design the exteriors of the X5 and the X Coupe concept car. He also designed the 2002 CS1 concept and the 1-Series production car.

In 2002, he was appointed Director of Automotive Design and has been responsible for guiding several advanced and production vehicles including the new X5, X3, and Z4.