2 Years Since Jeong Eui-seon’s Launch... Hyundai Motor Group Accelerates Mobility Innovation (Comprehensive)

2nd Anniversary of Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun's Inauguration on the 14th
Transition to Mobility Solutions Company and Open Innovation
Realizing Hydrogen Economy Vision and Accelerating Eco-friendly Vehicle Strategy
Introducing Flexible Organizational Culture with Casual Dress and Work System

[Asia Economy Reporter Su-yeon Woo] Chung Eui-sun, Vice Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, marks two years since taking overall charge of the group on the 14th of this month. Since the establishment of the 'Chung Eui-sun regime,' Hyundai Motor Group has undergone an unprecedentedly rapid transformation over the past two years. Notable changes are evident not only in the internal atmosphere related to organizational culture but also in the external shifts in business direction and vision.

In the business community, there is surprise at how quickly Hyundai Motor Group, once synonymous with traditional manufacturing, has transformed. A business insider stated, "Since Vice Chairman Chung took the helm, Hyundai Motor Group has noticeably changed over the past two years."

Hyundai Motor Group Shifts Paradigm to 'Smart Mobility Solutions Company'

Just before his inauguration, at the 'India MOVE Global Mobility Summit,' he revealed the group's long-term vision to transform into a 'Smart Mobility Solutions Company.' Hyundai Motor Group, once a symbol of traditional manufacturing and a key national export industry, presented a blueprint to leap forward as a mobility solutions provider.

This was a bold decision by Vice Chairman Chung, coinciding with a paradigm shift in the automotive industry. Since then, he has tackled the tasks necessary for the transition to a mobility solutions company one by one. Defining future automotive industry trends as connectivity, autonomous driving, sharing economy, and electrification, he unveiled the future mobility vision at this year's CES.

Hyundai Motor Group's future mobility solutions will be realized in a future city connecting Personal Air Vehicles (PAV) - Mobility Transfer Hubs (Hub) - Purpose Built Vehicles (PBV). The concept involves riding a vertical takeoff and landing-capable PAV to avoid traffic congestion, then transferring at a Hub to a PBV that shuttles back and forth to reach the destination.

Vice Chairman Chung revealed Hyundai Motor Group's future portfolio strategy, expecting automobiles to account for 50%, PAVs 30%, and robotics 20%. To develop PAVs, he recruited Shin Jae-won, a former NASA urban air mobility (UAM) expert, as Vice President and established a UAM business division. Additionally, he formed a strategic alliance with Uber, which is preparing air taxi services in the U.S., to jointly develop PAVs.

Accelerating Open Innovation and Securing Leadership in the Hydrogen Economy

To solve the challenges represented by autonomous driving and vehicle sharing in mobility solutions, Hyundai Motor Group pursued open innovation. They established open innovation hubs called 'Cradle' in major cities with active startups such as Germany, the U.S., Israel, and Beijing, and made investments in leading global startups. They invested in 'Grab' and 'Ola,' leading ride-hailing companies in Southeast Asia and India, respectively, and formed a joint venture through co-investment with U.S. autonomous driving company Aptiv. The joint venture, 'Motional,' ranks among the top five in global autonomous driving technology and is pushing for commercialization of level 4 autonomous vehicles by 2022.

Another pillar of Hyundai Motor Group's mobility strategy is an eco-friendly approach based on hydrogen energy and electrification. In December 2018, just three months into his tenure, Vice Chairman Chung announced the 'FCEV 2030' strategy to strengthen global hydrogen leadership. The plan aims to establish an annual production system of 500,000 hydrogen electric vehicles domestically by 2030 and increase hydrogen fuel cell system production to about 700,000 units.

According to global consulting firm McKinsey, the hydrogen fuel cell market is expected to grow to between 5.5 million and 6.5 million units by 2030. To this end, leading global companies such as Japan's Toyota, U.S.'s Nikola, China's Sinopec, and Saudi Arabia's Aramco are actively entering the hydrogen business. Hyundai Motor Group is regarded as a leader in the hydrogen energy sector, and Vice Chairman Chung's global leadership is also drawing attention. He was appointed co-chair of the Global Hydrogen Council in January 2019 and earlier this year attended the Hydrogen Council CEO Summit in Paris, where he presented three key directions for realizing a hydrogen society.

Hyundai Motor Group is pursuing an electrification strategy alongside hydrogen energy by expanding electric vehicle sales. Currently, Hyundai Motor Group ranks fourth globally in electric vehicle supply, and Vice Chairman Chung has set an aggressive target of 1 million electric vehicles and a 10% global market share by 2025. Following the announcement of this ambitious business plan, Hyundai Motor Group has emerged as a major client in the global battery industry. Vice Chairman Chung has met with the heads of Samsung, LG, and SK Battery companies, becoming a leading figure driving new industries related to future vehicles and rising as a key figure in the business community.

Vice Chairman Chung Posts NEXO Test Drive Vlog... Establishing Flexible Communication and Organizational Culture

Since Vice Chairman Chung's appointment, the group's organizational culture has noticeably changed. The conservative and rigid corporate culture has been broken down, and an efficiency-centered flexible culture has been established. In February last year, Hyundai Motor Group introduced full voluntary dress code for employees. Although this was somewhat late compared to the IT and service industries that quickly reflect the times, it marked the beginning of innovative change considering Hyundai Motor Group's conservative culture that had lasted for decades.

Subsequently, Vice Chairman Chung simplified executive ranks and introduced flexible personnel and recruitment systems, as well as an absolute evaluation system for performance reviews. He held town hall meetings where he directly engaged in Q&A sessions with employees and attempted informal communication by personally filming and uploading a vlog of a NEXO test drive.

Now entering his third year in office, Vice Chairman Chung's immediate challenges appear to be securing profitability in the global automotive market, which has been contracted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while completing the group's governance restructuring. In 2018, he initiated a governance restructuring plan making Hyundai Mobis the holding company but withdrew it due to investor opposition. Last year, he successfully defended against an attack by activist investor Elliott at the shareholders' meeting. To strengthen investor communication, Vice Chairman Chung attended a dialogue hosted by the Carlyle Group in May last year, where he directly presented the group's vision to investors.

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