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How Hyundai Became a Design Powerhouse | Bradley Arnold, Head of Design

How Hyundai Became a Design Powerhouse | Bradley Arnold, Head of Design

The InEVitable Mar 13, 2026 76 min
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About this episode

Bradley Arnold, Head of Design at Hyundai Design North America, shares his journey from Art Center to leading design projects at Hyundai. He discusses Hyundai's rapid evolution into a design powerhouse, focusing on the rise of their off-road lifestyle sub-brand XRT and the innovative Crater concept. Arnold highlights Hyundai's nimble culture, blending Korean and American design influences, and their approach to creating authentic, capable off-road vehicles without legacy constraints. The episode also explores Hyundai's design philosophy, the importance of steel, and how they aim to build credibility in the rugged vehicle segment while maintaining fun and innovation.

Topics: hyundai design evolution bradley arnold career xrt off-road sub-brand crater concept vehicle hyundai design culture off-road vehicle design hyundai and genesis brands automotive design education design leadership vehicle customization and accessories
Technical Too Afraid to Ask
Nissan Xtrail
TTTNIS (CC0)
Car

Nissan Xtrail

"everything from Toyota, TRD, Nissan's trying to make Nismo into their off-road brand, Honda has done a bunch of, what do they call it, is it X-Trail or? Yeah, X-Trail. But more importantly, look at Jeep and the Ford Bronco and all the Ford Raptor"
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Ford Bronco
Calreyn88 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car

Ford Bronco

".... But more importantly, look at Jeep and the Ford Bronco and all the Ford Raptor everything, GM with thei..."
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Ford Raptor
UltraTech66 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car

Ford Raptor

"...tly, look at Jeep and the Ford Bronco and all the Ford Raptor everything, GM with their ZR2 stuff or AT4, thes..."
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Honda Accord
Throwawayacc222 (CC0)
Car

Honda Accord

".... Oh, really? Yeah. So he was driving in a Honda Accord every day to Torrance. Now, I'm looking at your ..."
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Hyundai Genesis
Calreyn88 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car

Hyundai Genesis

"...So Ian Cardiobiano, John Krzyski, the head of the Genesis studio. Ian's at Toyota, yeah."
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Bmw 6
Dinkun Chen (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car

Bmw 6

"...designing the car. The Mustache Mercedes SLs and BMW 6 series. Yeah, you're going to."
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Alpina Z8
Mr.choppers (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Car

Alpina Z8

"Yeah. The Z8, his work at Aston. It's like the, I mean, the, ..."
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Volkswagen Passat
Vauxford (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car

Volkswagen Passat

"...k it up. And then I think I had a proposal for a Passat. We were doing Passats and that studio at that t..."
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Hyundai Sonata
Benespit (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car

Hyundai Sonata

"...And Hyundai in 2008 was, was cool, right? The YF Sonata was really expressive. Right."
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Toyota Camry
S5A-0043 (CC BY 2.0)
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Toyota Camry

"Right. And stood out from the accord and the Camry at that time. So, I just felt like, well, this i..."
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Hyundai Veloster
Benespit (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car

Hyundai Veloster

"You did work on there. Veloster. First thing was, no, I got to do the launch of ..."
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Ford Mustang
Hans-Jürgen Neubert (CC BY 4.0)
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Ford Mustang

"We put on the cover. I think we put Mustang killer. Yeah."
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Chevrolet Camaro
Ermell (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car

Chevrolet Camaro

"Yeah. He had already done Camaro. Yes."
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Buick Grand National
MeanBuicks at English Wikipedia (Public domain)
Car

Buick Grand National

"... it become a Buick? Like they're going to do the Grand National or something? I can't remember."
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Acura CL
IFCAR (Public domain)
Car

Acura CL

"...t remember what it was at the time. And then the CL rolled out. And I mean, it was like dead silence..."
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Hyundai Equus
Benespit (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car

Hyundai Equus

"Right, yeah, Hyundai Genesis. And the Hyundai Equus, don't forget the Equus. Yes, that's right."
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Genesis GV80
Alawadhi3000 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car

Genesis GV80

"...he first thing I worked on when I came back was a GV80 concept. So the first SUV."
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Scion Xb
BTRand1 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car

Scion Xb

"...sses like, I don't know if you get like the, the scion XB was like, yo kids will steal, they'll be digging..."
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Hyundai Santa Cruz
Zeometric (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Car

Hyundai Santa Cruz

"..., old people would like to garden, you know, the Santa Cruz get soil into it. Yeah. The Santa Cruz is the ex..."
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Hyundai Palisade
Alexander-93 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car

Hyundai Palisade

"Um, so, so, okay. The GV80 and then was Palisade the next big thing you did? No, Santa Cruz."
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Ford Maverick
dave_7 from Lethbridge, Canada (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Car

Ford Maverick

"... not going to, like, I think about like the Ford Maverick, which is based on the Ford Escape, right?"
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Ford Escape
Dinkun Chen (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car

Ford Escape

"...ike the Ford Maverick, which is based on the Ford Escape, right?"
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Chevrolet El Camino
Bull-Doser (Public domain)
Car

Chevrolet El Camino

"It's an agile. You know, we're a weird El Camino type thing. But like, was there like, we don't w..."
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Chevrolet Spin
オーバードライブ83 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car

Chevrolet Spin

"...d you can walk up the desert and walk up and like spin them and see them in motion."
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Hyundai Kona
Vauxford (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car

Hyundai Kona

"Sure. Sometimes it's not necessary on a Kona. You don't maybe don't need to do a ton of capab..."
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Hyundai Ioniq
TTTNIS (CC0)
Car

Hyundai Ioniq

"from performance brands. But Ioniq 5N set a new precedent for like how we'll do this..."
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Hyundai Ioniq 5
TTTNIS (CC0)
Car

Hyundai Ioniq 5

"...it's a little, it looks like to me, it's maybe an Ioniq 5 base, but it's a jacked up off-road EV."
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Delorean DMC-12
Grenex at English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Car

Delorean DMC-12

"...n doing this, I'm blanking on the name, but that DeLorean looking thing. 74."
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Genesis G80
Calreyn88 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car

Genesis G80

"...dai designer, did a bunch of the Genesis, did the G80, all blank on all that. But I've done a ton of c..."
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Toyota Land Cruiser
CEphoto, Uwe Aranas (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Car

Toyota Land Cruiser

"... really hard on some of these like Toyota and the Land Cruiser. They have this credibility."
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Toyota Crown
Autosdeprimera (CC BY 3.0)
Car

Toyota Crown

"...he first two cars sold in the US. One's a Toyota Crown, the other's a Land Cruiser. Crown's burned up o..."
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G-Class Gwagon
Dinkun Chen (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car

G-Class Gwagon

"But yeah, if a Jeep didn't have two solid axles, like literal revolt. And the G-Wagon, which arguably might be better with two solid axles, they got rid of one sales one way up."
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Bronco Raptor
Calreyn88 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car

Bronco Raptor

"But you know what? I've driven the Bronco Raptor on chocolate thunder. It doesn't need a solid ax..."
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Jeep Wrangler
Dinkun Chen (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car

Jeep Wrangler

"...-brand or whatever, I'd say like, let's make our Wrangler, whatever that is, could be the crater. Is there..."
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Outback Wilderness
IFCAR (Public domain)
Car

Outback Wilderness

"so great. And then a super outback wilderness. Yeah."
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Willys Jeep
Calreyn88 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car

Willys Jeep

"...m scratch? Again, no credit, no product line, no Willys Jeep that helped win World War II or whatever. Yeah, ..."
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Bmw M
MrWalkr (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car

Bmw M

"...erstanding is Albert Beerman over. That dude ran BMW M like forever. Right."
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Porsche 911
David Villarreal Fernández (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Car

Porsche 911

"...ou do a mid-cycle refresh, rinse, repeat, Porsche 911 every eight years. And the first major manufactu..."
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Kia Stinger
MarcelX42 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Car

Kia Stinger

"...t's just like, you know what? Everyone likes the Stinger and not selling, gone, you know? It's like, what..."
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