The Head of Hyundai Design Center hopes to score big points with the young and young-at-heart through fun storytelling
It is all too easy to go overboard with fantastical ideas in concept cars, but knowing how much and when to stop is the sign of an introspective design team.
The Concept THREE is a case in point, because Hyundai’s chic compact city-commuter manages to stop short of coming across as over-the-top.
With its quirky aesthetic elements and quietly intelligent features, there’s a fun element to the Concept THREE’s origin story that earmarks it as a car for the young and young-at-heart.
Simon Loasby, head of the Hyundai Design Center (pictured above), tells us: “It's about engaging our audience in both digital and physical terms – the storytelling, if you will. The Insteroid concept provoked a huge reaction from young people, and a little bit of that is sprinkled on Concept THREE to give it a smile factor so it's not just a boring car. We see not only young people buying this car, but those with a young mindset buying this sporty, compact hatchback.”
See also: Here's our preview of the Hyundai Concept THREE
A car should be able to evoke strong emotions in everyone, not just the owner, because the worst result is for it to be regarded as a white good.
“People are generally down and we need to cheer them up,” Loasby tells us.
See also: Hyundai Concept THREE preview at IAA Mobility 2025 : Trick and Threet
He continues: “At the moment, all around the world, there is politics and conflict. If you can make somebody smile and cheer them up, it is therapeutic. Instead of being depressed, we give them something to smile about, and this isn’t just reserved for the owner. We want the Concept THREE to drive past and have people say ‘look at that!’ Our mantra in Hyundai is not to do everything the same, but to be refreshingly different.”
How do you know when it is too much?
“Where do we want to be and how do we want to position the car? How much understatement or how much loudness should it have? There are some cars from other brands out there, which, for me at the moment, are just vulgar – they're just too loud. For the Concept THREE, we've turned up the volume to include that fun factor, but the overall forms are very reduced and simple, and the production car will likely be even simpler than this,” Loasby explains.
Given how sporty and edgy the Concept THREE looks now, it would be remiss of Hyundai not to have a storming N version in the works, especially with the Ioniq 5 N and coming Ioniq 6 N present and accounted for.
“Yes, please mention that!” Loasby grins. It is certainly hard to think of anything more fun than a hotted-up version of the Concept THREE!
