Hyundai Motor, Kia win 17 honors at 2026 Red Dot Awards, including 2 top prizes

A Kia EV4 SUV showcased in partnership with Musinsa / Courtesy of Hyundai Motor

Hyundai Motor and affiliate Kia have won 17 awards at the Red Dot Award: Brand & Communication Design 2026, including two top Best of the Best prizes, for design work spanning retail spaces, digital platforms and brand exhibitions, the companies said Friday.

The Red Dot Award, organized by Germany's Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen, is considered one of the world's three leading design competitions alongside Germany's iF Design Award and the United States' IDEA.

It recognizes standout work each year across product design, brand and communication design, and design concepts.

Genesis Cheongju, a retail space that draws on the North Chungcheong Province city's craft heritage — including "Jikji," the world's oldest surviving book printed with movable metal type, and "hanji," traditional Korean paper — won Best of the Best in retail design and a Winner prize in space communication, tying the space to Genesis' "craftsmanship" design philosophy.

Hyundai's UX Studio Seoul, described as the auto industry's first open research space letting any customer take part in product testing, won Best of the Best in digital solutions plus two more Winner awards for interior and exhibition design.

Hyundai also picked up Winner honors for its CES 2026 robotics showcase, the Hope on Wheels children's cancer charity campaign, and its IAA Mobility 2025 booth, among others.

Kia earned Winner awards for its EV4 exhibition with fashion platform Musinsa and "Movement's Heritage," an exhibit marking the brand's 80th anniversary, along with three more honors tied to its Milan Design Week showcases.

"This recognition shows our customer-centered brand experience and spatial design have earned global acknowledgment," a Hyundai Motor Group official said.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.