Genesis, Hyundai Motor Company’s luxury automotive brand, has confirmed that Sasha Selipanov will join the brand as Chief Designer at the Global Genesis Advanced Studio in Europe. As a design-focused brand, Genesis has been recruiting renowned designers as well as young talents from all over the world. Earlier this year, former Bentley designer Sangyup Lee made the move as well, joining his former boss Luc Donckerwolke.
Sasha Selipanov, whose full name is Alexander, has been mainly responsible for exterior design of sports cars at luxury marques, including Bugatti. In 2014, he was appointed as Head of Exterior Design, Creative Development at Bugatti and was responsible for the exterior design of the Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo show car presented at the 2015 Frankfurt motor show and the Bugatti Chiron, unveiled at the 2016 Geneva motor show.
With his diverse experience, accumulated expertise and tremendous passion for cars, Selipanov will be a further asset to the global Genesis design team, which is led by former Bentley design boss Luc Donckerwolke.
“I am sincerely excited about this opportunity,” says Selipanov. “It will be a new chapter in my career. As I have been working with well-established brands so far, Genesis is a new and refreshing challenge to me.
“I am also honored to join this exciting journey, as it is a very rare chance to launch a luxury automotive brand and be part of its history. With growing expectations and curiosity around Genesis, I cannot wait to contribute my expertise and passion to the brand.”
Born in 1983 in Tbilisi, Georgia, the Russian national earned his bachelor’s degree in transportation design at Art Center College of Design in California in 2005. After graduation, he joined the Volkswagen Design Center in Potsdam, Germany, and participated in exterior design projects for all Volkswagen Group brands. He later joined the Lamborghini exterior design team in Sant’Agata, Italy, for the Huracan project in 2010.
Selipanov will start working at Genesis in January 2017.
