Thursday, March 28, 2024

Hyundai’s Former Game Changing Designer (Andre Hudson) Talks New Dream Job, Culture, Obama And More On ‘Auto Trends’

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andre hudson - car designer
Andre Hudson

*Atlanta, Georgia – Prior to Andre Hudson, Hyundai’s first Black car designer, leaving the comfort zone of General Motors, to work for an automaker, whose annual sales had never surpassed the 500,000 mark in the U. S. and was only known for its value priced, conservatively styled vehicles, many would have considered it to be a risky move.

For the cool and collected trailblazer, he saw it as opportunity to make his mark. Once at Hyundai Hudson landed what would eventually become a history making assignment that would change his trajectory and that of his new employee too.

He was allowed to flex his creative muscle, breathing new life into the brand’s previously understated midsize sedan, the Sonata. And, as a result of the carefully placed exterior curves and the ‘fresh’ approach the designer took to reinvent the 2011 Sonata, which was launched in 2010, sales ballooned from approximately 100,000 units annually to literally doubling within one year.

In fact, during the Sonata’s peak, Hudson’s head-turning sedan accounted for a whopping 40 percent of the Korean brands annual U. S. sales. Moreover, for the first time, the success of the Sonata in North America pushed the automaker into a new league. The swanky Sonata was the vehicle that finally drove the automaker to crack the 500,000 unit mark in the U.S. Finally, Hyundai was now being taken seriously by an industry that was still warming up to the brand due to its past sketchy relationship.

Being that Hudson is not one to rest on his laurels, he worked on other high profile vehicles for the Korean automaker, before landing another key vehicle assignment. This time around his creative talent and internal drive earned him the opportunity to establish the face for the world’s newest luxury brand – Genesis.

The game changing artist took the lead in styling the brand’s stately flagship sedan, the G90, which competes with the likes of the Lexus LS and BMW 7-series.

Ironically, just on the heels of Hyundai launching its luxury brand, Hudson was eyeing some other opportunities. On “Auto Trends with JeffCars.com,” Hudson lets down his guard. In a very candid and personal two part-conversation, the easy going designer talks about his mixed race, family and culture, as well as his new dream role at Icona Design, where he serves as Chief Designer. In this role, he oversees the design studio for the Italian company only American-based office.

With the exception of the esteemed Ed Welburn, who held the position as the highest ranking Black designer in the world up until his retirement in 2016 from General Motors, the talented, trendsetter is currently one of five high-ranking Black designers in the world to break through the upper echelon of car designers. All five of the higher level designers are in their forties, four are males and one is a woman. Hudson, the youngest of this prestigious club of high ranking black designers, was mentored by Welburn.

Never before in the history of the automotive industry have there been five Black designers currently serving in one of three prominent roles in the field of design: senior vice president, design director or chief designer. Over the past few years there have been three at the most, and that was when Welburn was still a part of the count.

To hear the first part of this awe-inspiring conversation, tune in on SiriusXM Channel 141 on Friday, December 1 at 12:00 p.m. ET.  Encore broadcasts will occur on Sunday, December 3 and Monday, December 4 at 8:00 p.m. ET and 1:30 p.m. ET, respectively.

And we wrap up our conversation with Hudson on Friday, December 8 at 12:00 p.m. ET.  Encore broadcasts will occur on Sunday, December 10 and Monday, December 11 at 8:00 p.m. ET and 1:30 p.m. ET, respectively

jeff fortson
Jeff Fortson

About Jeff Fortson

Jeff Fortson is the host and the executive producer of “Auto Trends with JeffCars.com,” a weekly multi-cultural automotive show, which airs in the both the United States and Canada. He also serves as the editor of JeffCars.com, an educational car-buying website with a new-vehicle pricing guide. Fortson, who has over 25 years of both automotive corporate and automotive retail experience, has penned several extensive car-buying guides for Black Enterprise, Ebony and Essence, three of the premier magazines in the Black community.

In April 2009, Essence recognized him as a “The Top Guru for Sound Car-Buying Advice.” His contributions and articles have also appeared in The Washington Post, Jet, BlackAmericaWeb.com, Eurweb.com and AOL.com. Added to that, he has appeared on such programs as CNN and NPR, serving in the role of an automotive analyst. Furthermore, Fortson uses his copyrighted car-buying clinic, which is housed with the Library Congress, to empower students through his signature traveling dream literacy-empowerment educational in-school modules, involving STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math).

And look for his upcoming extensive automotive feature in the November/December (2017) Consumers Digest magazine.

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source:
Jeff Fortson
[email protected]

 

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