LED light bars have become all the rage in the auto industry, with companies from all corners of the market adding eye-catching lighting elements to vehicles. Hyundai was an early mover with light bars, but its design boss isn’t so in love with them anymore, saying, “I’ve seen enough.”
Speaking with UK’s Car Magazine, Hyundai design boss, Simon Loasby, said, “When is the time you need to let go of light bars? It’s almost like the end of that. We’ve done it with the Grandeur, Kona, and Sonata, but now I’m like ‘guys, I’ve seen enough.’”
Hyundai
He said the design worked at the time, but the lights cost more, and many customers don’t actually need or want them, though he noted that Chinese buyers are more keen on the feature than Europeans.
Hyundai wants consistency without repetition, and the once-unique light bars are no longer so in vogue. Loasby said the brand has to walk a fine line between innovation and familiarity, and he noted that Hyundai is focused on the balance between shared design elements and unique parts of each vehicle.
Hyundai
While Loasby might be over light bars, Hyundai’s lineup spans a fair number of unique designs in the United States. Other automakers have copied the Ioniq 5’s “pixel” design language, but it remains a unique vehicle, and it has a completely different look from the Ioniq 6 sedan. The Ioniq 9 SUV leans into the pixel look, but again, it’s generally different than its stablemates.
It will take a while for Hyundai to weed out the light bars, but it’s not wasting time on making changes. The automaker recently revealed the Concept 3 EV, which many expect to preview the upcoming Ioniq 3. It featured pixel lighting tech, but it was notably missing an LED light bar, so we could start seeing the updates sooner than expected.
Hyundai
