South Korea’s largest automaker Hyundai Motor Co. said Tuesday it was named the Brand of the Year at Germany’s Red Dot Design Award 2018, becoming the first Korean carmaker to receive the honorary title.

It is the second Korean company to win the prestigious design award after LG Electronics in 2015.

The Red Dot Award is one of the world’s three most renowned design awards, along with the International Forum (iF) Product Design Award in Germany and the International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) in the United States.

The Brand of the Year is awarded to a single brand that shows excellence in product design, communication design and design concepts.

Hyundai Motor won its first Red Dot Award in 2012 with its Next Generation i30 and has since received a series of product design awards for its brands including Genesis, i10, Ioniq hybrid, Nexo and Kona.

This year, it won seven awards in total, with Nexo and Kona winning in the product design category. In the communication category, its luxury sedan Genesis was awarded for its brand showroom in Gangnam and superior sound system. The company also received recognition for its Solati Moving Hotel, a luxury van made in collaboration with SM Entertainment, one of Korea’s largest entertainment labels.

By Lee Seung-hoon and Kim Hyo-jin

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