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| BMW Group designer Lim Seung-mo poses during a group interview with reporters at the Seoul Motor Show in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, on March 28. Courtesy of BMW Korea |
By Nam Hyun-woo
Korean designers at global automotive giants are playing increasing roles in building the look of world's most popular cars, according to a Korean designer at BMW Group.
"I can sense that Korean designers are emerging in the global automobile design scene, and that can be observed in multiple brands," said Lim Seung-mo, who visited the recent 2019 Seoul Motor Show to present the BMW i Vision Dynamics concept in his home country.
"Automobile design schools have a relatively small number of graduating students and designers working in the industry, but it is noticeable that Korean designers are showing their presence at not only German brands but also other car companies."
Lim, who designed the exterior of the firm's latest concept car, is one of a number of Korean designers at BMW's Munich headquarters but is the only Korean exterior designer.
After him, another Korean BMW designer, Kim Nu-ry, recently visited Korea to showcase the new 3 Series, of which she designed the interior of the compact sedan.
Graduating from Hongik University in Korea and Pforzheim University of Applied Sciences in Germany, Lim has been taking part in the designing of BMW's key models for the past 9 years, including the M5 (F90) and the Vision Next 100 concept, which marked the group's 100th anniversary.
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| BMW Group designer Lim Seung-mo poses with the i Vision Dynamics concept car during the Seoul Motor Show in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, on March 28. Courtesy of BMW Korea |
The i Vision Dynamics will be the base of the upcoming BMW i4, which will be the latest addition to the German carmaker's futuristic all-electric sub-brand of BMW i.
Lim described presenting the i Vision Dynamics to Korean audiences was a dream came true.
"I still remember the thrill and excitement I felt when I visited the first Seoul Motor Show in 1995," Lim said. "The memory led me to pursue the career of designing a car and presenting a car I designed at the very same show is a truly amazing experience," he said.
On the direction of BMW's future vehicles, Lim said the brand will introduce more futuristic and aggressive looking vehicles, especially within the BMW i brand, and those designing features will be applied to production cars.
"As seen in the i8 or i3 EVs, BMW has its strength in applying the designs of concept cars or show cars into actual production cars," Lim said. "The i in BMW i stands for innovation and the design of not only i vehicles but also other BMW cars will be more innovative and aggressive."
