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Michael Cole, New Head of Hyundai Motor Europe Division

[Asia Economy Reporter Jihee Kim] Michael Cole, head of Kia Motors' U.S. division, has been newly appointed as the head of Hyundai Motor Company's Europe Division. Cole, the new division head, previously worked at Toyota and Ford's European branches and served as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Kia Motors' Europe Division. With this new appointment, Hyundai is expected to accelerate the recovery of its European performance by strengthening the regional responsibility management system.

Hyundai announced on the 22nd that Cole will join as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Europe Division on the 1st of next month. During his 11 years at Kia Motors, Cole contributed to strengthening operational strategies across all areas, including sales, marketing, and customer service, through his experience in both the European and U.S. branches. Notably, while serving as COO of the European branch in 2012, he is known to have increased European sales by approximately 40%.

This appointment is interpreted as part of Hyundai Motor Group's efforts since 2018 to accelerate the 'strengthening of the global autonomous management system.' At that time, Hyundai Motor Group announced the establishment of regional headquarters in major markets such as North America and Europe, aiming to reorganize the global market into a global regional organization. Through this, the strategy was to operate more sophisticated local customized strategies led by on-site management and to secure excellent overseas talent.

Since then, Hyundai Motor Group has been replacing local heads with foreigners, starting with the appointment of Jose Munoz as head of Hyundai Motor North America Division in May last year, and appointing Li Feng, the first local CEO, as general manager of Dongfeng Yueda Kia, a Chinese production corporation. With this appointment, former Vice President Dongwoo Choi, who was appointed as the first head of the newly established Europe Division, will step down from the frontline.

The new division head, Cole, has been tasked with leading the recovery of the European market amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused an overall market downturn. Since the spread of COVID-19 in Europe began in March, Hyundai's European sales have struggled. Even last month, three months into the pandemic's impact, Hyundai sold only 21,397 units, a 55.2% decrease compared to the same period last year. Although the rate of sales decline has slowed compared to the previous month, full recovery remains distant.

This year, Hyundai is preparing a variety of new car lineups, including electric vehicle models popular in the European region. Following the recently launched new i10, the i20, i30, and new Santa Fe are scheduled to be released within the year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.