There's nothing like global trends. So the industry has moved to get closer to particular markets. Nissan opened its new design headquarters in London last March, complete with "trend spotters" who shop for a living.
Ford is already in London and Toyota's European design centre in the south of France was largely responsible for the new European-styled Avensis.
Now Hyundai and sister firm Kia have joined the move to Europe, with the opening of a €54 million design and engineering centre in Rüsselsheim in Germany. The centre, built on-time and €1 million under budget (a lesson for the Luas Project), will be responsible for expanding the number of European influenced models brought to market.
The success of Hyundai's strategy of basing models on single platforms while designing locally can be seen in two European-designed models, the Getz and Coupe. According to Hyundai, the centre will also play an important role in the plan to reduce its number of platforms from 29 to seven by 2009.
Hyundai has long had ambitious plans, both for Europe and the world. Its aim to be in the top five car firms globally within seven years remains strong and the firm has been busy building relationships with firms as diverse as Porsche with gearboxes and Karmann with its new concept car. There are also close ties with its two shareholders, DaimlerChrysler which owns about 10 per cent and Mitsubishi with nearly 5 per cent. Hyundai's aim is to raise market share up to 3 per cent from its current 1.5 per cent, an ambition already reached in Ireland.
The engineering centre, representing an initial investment of €12.6 million, has 8,742 square metres and is designed to optmise engine and vehicle performance, fuel economy and drivability.
Along with a powertrain and chassis test areas, there are also NVH (Noise Vibration Harshness) testing rooms, shock absorber testing rooms and a test area for steering and suspension settings.
On the design side, it has 5,780 square metres with workshops, modelling and amphitheatre allowing designers to compare several models in daylight while providing security against prying journalists. The facility will also use 3-D simulations to compare designs and confer with the main Hyundai design centre in Namyang, Korea, and two regional studios in Irvine, California, and Chiba, Japan.
At the opening of the centre, Hyundai revealed plans for a glass-roofed convertible version of the Coupe, the CCS Convertible, created with Karmann. The roof folds away in 22 seconds. The car will be built and in production by the end of 2005.
Apart from the roof, the main difference in the concept and the current model is at the rear, where allowance for the roof has forced a boot redesign and a more bulky look. Boot space is 443 litres with roof closed and 244 litres when it's folded back.
Kia revealed the KCV-III, a funky little coupé convertible that will also be built. "We will build it within two to three years, though it may not be as revolutionary as it is currently," says designer Jae-Rim Lee. "We designed it to be particuarly attractive in the European market."