Hyundai want to be SEXIER than Alfa Romeo. And so do SEAT.

Hyundai VP of Design, SangYup Lee, declares that he wants Hyundai to be sexier than Alfa Romeo, and VW boss Herbert Diess declares SEAT can be the ‘new’ Alfa Romeo.

It’s been said many times before, especially by the Clarkson era Top Gear hosts, that to be a true petrolhead you have to have owned an Alfa Romeo.

We’re not entirely sure that’s the case, but if you are a true petrolhead you will have fallen in love with more than one Alfa Romeo in your life, even if you let your head rule your heart and didn’t actually take the plunge and sign up for endless rust and electrical mayhem.

On that basis it seems that SangYup Lee, Hyundai’s VP of design – and considered a global star designer in the car business – has either owned or lusted after an Alfa or three at some point, as he’s declared Hyundai’s mission is to be ‘sexier than Alfa Romeo’.

Lee plans to move Hyundai away from their ‘Russian Doll’ design and give each model its own identity, and sees no reason why a volume brand like Hyundai can’t deliver cars which are known for both their design and value. Sounds like a plan.

Over at VW, new boss Herbert Diess has a similar thought pattern, and believes VW can make SEAT in to the new Alfa Romeo, and are aiming to position SEAT higher up the pecking order to appeal to a younger generation of buyers who don’t remember Alfa’s glory days, a plan no doubt promoted by SEAT boss Luca De Meo, who just happens to have been in charge at Alfa Romeo before he headed for the more robust waters of the VW Group.

Perhaps it would be easier for VW to revive their bid to buy Alfa Romeo?