Exclusive: Phil Zak appointed Chief Designer at Hyundai America (updated)

Phillip A Zak will become the new Chief Designer at Hyundai's North American Design Center in Irvine, California, filling the role previously held by former GM designer Joel Piaskowski who left Hyundai to become Head of Advanced Design at Mercedes-Benz's North American Design Center in January of this year.

Zak joins Hyundai from his previous role as head of exterior design at GM Europe - a post he has held since August 2007 - and will work in parallel to European Chief Designer Thomas Buerkle (who worked at BMW before joining the Korean automaker), developing vehicles for the North American market. As is the case with Buerkle, Zak will report to Hyundai Design Director Mr. Oh.

During his tenure at GM Europe, Zak was charged with leading the exterior design of the Opel, Vauxhall and Saab brands, as well as the design of certain Saturn products for North America. He is responsible for the design of the new Opel Ampera (unveiled at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show), the Chevrolet Equinox, and the forthcoming GMC Terrain, scheduled to make its debut at the 2009 New York Auto Show.

The next-generation products from Opel and Saab will all have seen input from Zak and his team.

Over the course of his career, Zak also held the position of Exterior Design Director of General Motors' Global Compact Utility Studio, working at the company's North American Design Center. This is one of several senior positions he held at GM Design after joining the organization in 1991.

While in Warren, Michigan, Zak established new design directions for brands like Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Opel, was part of the 2006 Saturn Prevue concept program, and established the design direction for the Pontiac G6 sedan, Pontiac GXP performance line and the 2001 Pontiac REV concept.

Having studied industrial design at the Cleveland Institute of Art, Zak graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts in 1988 and earned the Gund Traveling Scholarship, the highest award given to a graduate.

Zak started his new role at Hyundai North America this week.

By Eric Gallina