HYUNDAI’S razor-sharp, six-storey Motorstudio in the heart of South Korea’s capital could be paving the way for smaller fragment lifestyle stores in Australia, with the car-maker assessing the potential for shopping mall retail spaces among other brand-boosting options.

The extensive multi-storey facility in Seoul is packed with Hyundai hardware and interaction points for Hyundai fans, but is not a retail outlet for the car-maker, instead serving as a church for the South Korean company where customers can celebrate the country’s largest auto entity.

Speaking to GoAuto at a media event in South Korea, Hyundai Motor Company Australia (HMCA) chief operating officer Scott Grant said the local division had built enough momentum to support a similar exercise on Australian soil, albeit on a smaller scale.

High street fashion: Hyundai’s flash Motorstudio in Seoul is six-levels of ultra-stylish galleries for lovers of all car brands.

“We’ve been looking at different retailing options and different concept stores and there’s a whole program going on in our organisation looking at future retailing and that program is about buildings and hardware type of things but also software,” he said.

“Then there’s the distribution and sales channel itself and in time how the internet is disrupting that … and where do we go in terms of our digital strategy. There’s lots of ideas in that space.”

Like the impressive Motorstudio in South Korea, Mr Grant said the role of an Australian version would not be primarily sales-focused, with an environment more like that of technology giant Apple to make customers feel comfortable.

“It’s kind of like an Apple store setup and that’s one of the things we’ve been looking at in major metros like Sydney’s CBD or Chadstone mall,” he said. “We would potentially look at something like that as more of an awareness, customer engagement without any pressure sales wise. Just an opportunity to experience the brand and the product.”

Such spaces could take the form of small shopping centre outlets featuring just one vehicle said Mr Grant, but featuring a heavy use of technology for customers to interact with the Hyundai brand.

“There is an opportunity to use a shopping mall type setup to display the product and to use digital interactive screens.

“The technology in terms of TVs effectively becoming computers and touchscreens is enabling the whole point of sale piece to change. You can bring it to people in an environment that they’re more comfortable with.”

It is unlikely Hyundai could have considered the idea of more lifestyle-focused retail and branding spaces until recent times with the company significantly building its customer perception consistently, but Mr Grant explained that the decision was not simply down to brand strength.

“It’s just a marketing expense. We spend a lot of money on marketing, it’s just a matter of whether we think it’s more effective than a newspaper ad or a TV commercial.”

With this year’s marketing plan already largely locked in. Mr Grant said the store concept would not be seen until next year at the earliest if it is given the green light.

“All of the type of technology to make this store possible is available now, it’s just a matter of us having a crack at it and putting some money on the table. We’re not really prepared to do it in this current budget cycle so it might be next year.”

If the Australian version is even a fragment of the Korean Motorstudio then it is likely to attract a significant amount of interest from local fans of the brand.

GoAuto was given a tour of the impressive facility and a cleverly structured journey through the various facets of Hyundai’s products, and the diverse personality types that each element targets.

Visitors enter via the large open exhibition space which contains few automotive references. When we arrived the finishing touches were being made to a specially commissioned artwork entitled Way Too Close which dominated the ground floor and added a feel more like an art gallery than car temple.

Upstairs is the auto library level which is packed with an extensive array of automotive books complete with its own curator. If a visitor cannot find the publication they are interested in then the Motorstudio can order it to hold as part of the collection with the visitor notified when it arrives.

The library does not lend books but visitors are offered comfortable and quiet spaces to enjoy the books and access to a resident Paul Bassett cafe – a high-end chain of coffee houses founded by the Australian barista.

Jump aboard the lift and take a ride up another level and customers arrive at the Genesis level where they can browse the luxury sister brand of Hyundai. On display is the full range of vehicles plus a corner dedicated to combining the various leather, paint and wood options available to customers.

The entire end wall is furnished with unfinished dashboard wood blanks to demonstrate the range of natural wood grains alongside other side displays including original sketches by company design boss Peter Schreyer.

Up another floor again is the Family level where parents and young couples are introduced to Hyundai’s SUV ranges, while offspring play in the special kids corner, which offers a range of craft activities for young minds and the young at heart.

Children (and the author) are offered 3D car kits to build or a special interactive colouring experience where their creations can come alive in an animated world by scanning them after their unique designs are completed.

On the top display level, Hyundai celebrates its high-performance heritage and the Racing and Tuning zone.

On show is a replica of the world rally i20 race car, a range of tuning and styling original accessories and a number of the company’s more performance-focused models.

Like all vehicle levels, customers can manipulate and turn the various models which are suspended in bespoke cradles for a closer look in, under and around the cars.

Each level has a continuous theme and decor fashioned from endless lengths of galvanised piping which represents the liquid metal that forms all of the company’s models as it flows around the levels and eventually solidifies into curved steel sheets – the same material Hyundai presses into body panels.

The overall feel and ambience of raw concrete, prevalent steel pipes and industrial styling creates a hugely sophisticated space that would not be out of place in the world’s top art and design venues.

We could have spent hours wandering the levels, sipping the top-quality tea and browsing the various interactive displays, which are a deserved portrayal of just how far the Hyundai brand and its range of vehicles has come in recent years.

By Daniel Gardner in KOREA