SiriusXM's 'Auto Trends' Black History Spotlight: Designer Chris Benjamin Resurrects A Car Brand Birthed 65 Years Ago

Chief Design Officer Chris Benjamin is posing with one of the vehicles his team created. (Photo Credit: Scout Motors)

Chris Benjamin, a native New Yorker, has joined an exclusive club, becoming one of a handful of Black automotive designers in the world to head a design studio.

Like the elite club of the four Black quarterbacks who have led their teams to the finish line in the Super Bowl, Benjamin finds himself in a car club just as exclusive as the Black NFL winning Super Bowl quarterbacks.

Former Black Car Designer Creates New Mural Honoring Gigi And Kobe Bryant

 

To view the four-minute vide, which includes an interview with artist and former Black car designer Brian Peterson in its entirety, click here. 

The President Of Toyota And Lexus North American Design Talks To 'Auto Trends'

Kevin Hunter, who is wearing the blue sweater, gathers with a few members of his design team to examine the all-new 2024 Tacoma. (Photo Credit: TMC)

Kevin Hunter, the president of Toyota Motor Corporation's U.S. design studio, California's Calty Design Research, talks one-on-one with Auto Trends with JeffCars.com, the only multicultural syndicated automotive program in North America. 

Hunter, a Michigan native, also oversees production and advanced designs for one of the world's top automotive manufacturers, at studios in California and Michigan.

Hunter, who is the first and only American to head TMC's North American designs, has served as president since 2007. For over four decades, he has been imagining concepts and creating final production ready vehicles both as a designer and a leader for Toyota and Lexus.

Design Director Andre Hudson Talks About His Latest Electric Vehicle Masterpiece (Part One of Two)

Design director Andre Hudson (photo credit: IndiEv)

Andre Hudson, who is currently amongst an elite group of approximately five Black designers around the world to lead a car design studio, goes one-on-one with JeffCars.com to talk about his latest work of art, the Indi One, which made its world debut last fall in Beverly Hills, California. 

Hudson is helping to usher in the electric car movement, albeit they only represented 3 percent of U.S. new vehicle sales in 2021. Before switching to electric vehicles, the creative genius made a name for himself at Hyundai, after composing the head-turning 2011 Sonata. The vehicle was named by the enthusiast's magazine, Motor Trend, as one of the top fifteen most important cars last decade. In fact, at its peak, the sexy looking sedan accounted for 40 percent of the Korean brand's annual U.S. new vehicle sales. The automaker made so much money from Hudson design they were able to launch the Genesis luxury line. 

In The Rearview Mirror: The Top Black Automotive History Makers From This Past Decade (2010-19)

photo credit: LE

While most of us are familiar with Elon Musk, the lead driver behind the all-electric luxury car company, known as Tesla, many of us would be hard pressed to identify blacks in the automotive industry who also played key roles in blazing new trails over the past decade.

As a new decade turns the corner, JeffCars.com has identified the top black automotive trendsetters and pioneers, who were either given the keys (or keyfobs) or literally took the keys (or keyfobs) to make their mark in history, during the years of 2010 to 2019.

Global Design Director Andre Hudson Gives Us a Peek into the Next Generation of Vehicles (Part Two of Two)

The exterior concept of the Nucleus (photo credit: Icona Design)

The interior concept of the Nucleus (photo credit: Icona Design)

Here's part two of our conversation with global design director Andre Hudson, as he gives us a glimpse on what we should expect from the next-generation of  fully electric, self-driving vehicles. In case you missed part one of our interview with Hudson, click here. 

Global Design Director Andre Hudson Gives Us a Peek into the Next Generation of Vehicles (Part One of Two)

Unless you've been literally asleep at the wheel, no pun intended, both electric and self-driving vehicles are in the pipeline. This next phase of passenger transportation, which is literally one of the most significant changes the industry has experienced, since the shift from horses and buggies to gasoline engine vehicles, is literally right around the corner.

A Video Recap Of A Students' Day Meeting His First Car Designer (Black History Month)

To check out news coverage from the event, click here. 

Kia Presents Black History Month with Fortson's 'Auto Trends' to High School Students

Peterson taking a moment to pose with students at Proviso High.

Students encapsulated with the Kia Niro after spending time with Kia University and car designer Brian Peterson.

A student documents her life changing school day.

Kia Honors Black History Month At Chicago Area High School

Car Designer Brian Peterson (left) and Proviso West Principal Abdullah (center) 

Car Designer Brian Peterson speaking to the students of Proviso West.

A student sketching vehicles during a STEM class being conducted by Kia University.

December's Guests And Conversations

Friday, December 1 & December 8

Topic: Hyundai's First Black Designer Opens Up About His New Career Climbing Role At Icona Design (A Two Part Show)

Guest: Up until his recent departure from Hyundai, Andre Hudson proudly carried the weight of being known as their first Black car designer. And the impact he had on the automaker went well beyond his ethnicity. While at Hyundai, he played a key role in designing stylish vehicles for the automaker that led them for the first time to sell over 500,000 vehicles annually in the U. S., as a result of the breakout design of the 2011 Sonata he created. During its peak, the Sonata Hudson designed accounted for approximately 40 percent of the Korean automaker's annual U.S. sales. Hudson was also lead designer for the brand's new luxury flagship, the Genesis G90. The G90 competes against the Lexus LS and the BMW 7-Series.

Ironically, just on the heels of Hyundai launching its luxury brand, Hudson was eyeing some other opportunities. On “Auto Trends with JeffCars.com,” Hudson lets down his guard. In a very candid and personal two part-conversation, the easy going designer talks about his mixed race, family and culture, as well as his new dream role at Icona Design, where he serves as Chief Designer. In this role, he oversees the design studio for the Italian company only American-based office. 

Hudson now becomes one of eight Black designers in the world to break through

(Video Interview) One-On-One With Chevy's Global Design Manager Kathy Servio: Talking Career Path, Passion And Corvette's Interior

Crystal Windham: The Sister Behind GM's Trend-Setting Interiors

At one time, growing up in the suburbs of Detroit as an African American female meant you had two career options: work in the music industry for Motown or build cars for the "Big Three" -- GM, Ford and Chrysler. Since music wasn't the calling of Crystal Windham, the first African American female director in GM's design history (and in the auto industry), she decided to take the road less traveled by not building cars in a factory like many of our ancestors or working in a traditional administrative role typically expected of women.

Windham decided to buck the trend, operating in a field not normally occupied by women (African Americans or Hispanics for that matter). Furthermore, having Windham overseeing a design team is about as rare as finding a brother teaching elementary school.

Windham, who says she's a risk taker and driven like her mom (who is now deceased), became enamored with the auto industry after receiving a scholarship to take up an auto design class during her freshman year at the College of Creative Studies in Detroit (Ralph Gilles, lead designer of the Chrysler 300, and Earl Lucas, the exterior designer of the all-new Taurus, attended CCS, too).

While she found the class to be both challenging and rewarding, Windham immediately caught the bug -- itching to become an auto designer. To test her skills at auto designs, she accepted a summer internship with Ford before landing her dream job out of college with GM.

And unlike most Generation Xers, who have worked for several companies in the span of their professional careers, Windham has been loyal to GM (and GM has been loyal to her, too). Since joining the company, she has had several high-profile assignments, from living in Germany for a year to becoming the lead designer of the interior of the 2004 Chevy Malibu to her current appointment as director of North American passenger-car design.

In fact, while researching new trends in luxury purses such as Louis Vuitton, Windham came up with the award-winning two-tone upscale interior for the current generation Malibu, which has been praised by the industry and customers alike.

In addition to fashion influencing her car-interior designs, interface products like Blackberry cell phones and MP3 players have also helped the GM designer develop the Midas touch.

When Windham was asked what advice she would give to those looking to accomplish something outside of the norm, she suggested finding something you love and are passionate about. Stay open-minded, but never be afraid to ask for help even if it's from someone who doesn't look like you. Work hard. Have a positive support system. And be open to criticism -- within it, there's a message that shouldn't be ignored. Like Jesus was able to turn water into wine, Windham has used her fashion sense and love for tech gadgets to revolutionize the car industry.