Hyundai Logo PNG
The emblem’s futuristic style transports users to a future world. The Hyundai logo is a symbol of progress. The brand’s machines utilize the latest innovations developed by the company’s designers and programmers.
Chung Ju-yung was born in 1915 into a poor farming family in northern Korea. At 18, he left for Seoul, worked as a laborer, accountant, and mechanic, and in 1941 opened an auto repair shop. In 1947, he founded Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company. The firm helped rebuild South Korea after the war by constructing roads, bridges, dams, and industrial sites as part of state-led industrial programs.
The Gyeongbu Expressway, completed in 1970 between Seoul and Busan, pushed Chung toward cars. Hyundai Motor Company was registered on December 29, 1967. In 1968, Hyundai’s Ulsan plant began assembling Ford Cortina cars under an agreement with Ford Motor Company. The plant moved from foundation work to production in under 6 months. Chung did not want Hyundai to remain a contract assembler. In 1976, the company launched the Pony, Korea’s first mass-produced, domestically developed car, styled by Giorgetto Giugiaro and powered by Mitsubishi components.
In February 1986, Hyundai entered the U.S. market with the Excel, priced around $5,000. Sales reached 100,000 cars in 7 months and 168,882 in the first full year. By the early 1990s, quality complaints damaged Hyundai’s reputation in the U.S. In 1998, during the Asian financial crisis, Hyundai acquired a 51% stake in Kia Motors. In 1999, Chung passed control to his son, Chung Mong-koo. By 2004, Hyundai ranked above Toyota in J.D. Power’s initial quality rankings. By 2024, Hyundai Motor Group was third globally, behind Toyota and Volkswagen.
Meaning and History
Chung Ju-Yung first established Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company and later acquired Hyundai Motor Company. The difference between them is exactly twenty years, so the entrepreneur has accumulated a great deal of experience to engage in serious production in the automotive industry.
As passenger car production became more active globally, South Korean companies also considered this business, inviting George Turnbull, a former manager at Austin Morris, to collaborate. He wished to adequately support the company’s prestige and cars and turned to the best British engineers for help.
As a result, the Hyundai logo was already well-recognized abroad in 1982. Starting from the Canadian market, the company gradually expanded its sales, and in 1986, its cars entered the top 10 best-selling products in the United States, according to the American magazine Fortune. This made the South Korean corporation’s emblem very prestigious.
What is Hyundai?
Hyundai is a South Korean conglomerate of dozens of enterprises that manufacture microchips, lighting products, plastics, petrochemicals, construction, information technology, defense technology, finance, and other fields of activity. The largest participant in the association is the car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Company.
1967 – 1970
The debut logo features geometric shapes with an “H” and “D” in the background. They are taken from the name of the Hyundai company and are its abbreviation. The H has an elongated right leg, which resembles a miniature spike protruding above the second letter. The “D” has a rounded right side. A large bracket with an acute angle on the left serves as a background. She, in turn, is set against a large, thin ring. The emblem’s color is monochrome black-and-white.
1970 – 1978
In this version, the designers kept all the elements except the circle. They “flattened” it, turning it into an oval. As a result, the bracket inside it began to look slightly distorted, as if viewed from a perspective in which what is next to it appears larger and what is farther away appears smaller.
1978 – 1992
In 1978, the emblem underwent a complete redesign with a direct arrangement. The letters “HD” are even and legible, despite the “D” having a solid-color fill. Both signs are framed in a rectangle. On the right is an inscription in Korean characters.
1990 – today
The designers presented a radically different emblem: only an oval with a thin frame remained from the previous one. The graphic, stylized as the letter “H,” depicts a seller and a buyer shaking hands to celebrate a successful deal.
2003 – today
To ensure the emblem was well received in the foreign market, the company management removed the hieroglyphs and replaced them with the English version of the brand name. On the left, a corporate badge in the form of an oval with figures exchanging handshakes, and on the right, the word “Hyundai” in capital letters. Now, this logo is actively used, being the main one.
2011 – 2017
The designers temporarily moved the oval icon with the letter “H” above the brand name. They also repainted the silver, adding shadows, highlights, and a cool, metallic feel. The brand name remains the same, even clear, sans-serif.
Font and Colors
The logo’s modification mainly affected its spatial position: in earlier versions, the image was slightly pushed back, but now it is even. The letters were simplified, and they acquired geometric outlines.
The logo’s typography is carefully thought out. The designers used the contrast principle to make the inscription stand out against the round badge’s background. They chose a large and geometric typeface called Hyundai Normal, created by Samuel Park. The proprietary palette is now represented by a single shade of blue: cobalt (#003685).