Opening of the 'Chung Eui-sun Era'... Hyundai Motor Group's 3rd Generation Management Begins in Earnest (2nd Report)

Hyundai Motor Group Vice Chairman Chung Euisun is delivering a New Year's address at the 2020 Hyundai Motor Group Kick-off Ceremony held at Hyundai Motor Company headquarters in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the 2nd. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Appointed through an extraordinary board meeting on the day... Video message to be delivered without a separate inauguration ceremony

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] Chung Eui-sun, Vice Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, was appointed as the Group Chairman on the 14th. Although Chairman Chung had led the group’s management as Vice Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group for two years, this officially marked the beginning of the 'Chung Eui-sun era.' With this, Hyundai Motor Group has entered a full-fledged third-generation management system.

Hyundai Motor Group held an extraordinary board meeting on the day and appointed Vice Chairman Chung as the Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group. The group plans to deliver Chairman Chung’s video message to all employees without a separate inauguration ceremony.

Chairman Chung joined the company as Head of Purchasing at Hyundai Motor in 1999 and rose to the chairman position after 21 years. His appointment as chairman had already been anticipated. After being promoted to Vice Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group in 2018, he took on the roles of CEO of Hyundai Motor and Hyundai Mobis in March last year, and in March this year, he became the chairman of Hyundai Motor’s board, effectively leading the group’s management.

Chairman Chung’s appointment is interpreted as a proactive response to the rapid paradigm shift in the automotive industry. With the full-scale start of the 'Chung Eui-sun era,' it is expected that the transition to a mobility service company, which he has focused on, will accelerate further.

Born in 1970, Chairman Chung graduated from Whimoon High School and Korea University with a degree in Business Administration, then earned a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of San Francisco. After starting his career at Hyundai Motor as Head of Purchasing in 1999, he served as General Manager of Hyundai Motor’s Sales Support Division, Deputy Head of Domestic Sales Headquarters, and Deputy Head of Planning Headquarters at Hyundai Kia Motors.

Chairman Chung’s managerial capabilities began to stand out from 2005. He served as CEO of Kia Motors for four years, recruiting world-renowned designer Peter Schreyer and establishing the brand image of 'Design Kia.'

In 2010, he launched Hyundai Motor’s Genesis brand, successfully establishing a premium strategy. Additionally, he raised Hyundai and Kia’s electric vehicle sales to fourth place worldwide as of the first half of this year and succeeded in mass-producing the world’s first hydrogen electric truck. Next year, he plans to launch the next-generation electric vehicle based on an electric vehicle-exclusive platform.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

With Chairman Chung now fully stepping forward, the transition to a future mobility-centered business that he has been promoting is expected to gain even more momentum.

During his tenure as Vice Chairman, he devoted efforts to transforming the business system toward future growth engines. Earlier this year in January, Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors, and Hyundai Mobis announced a large-scale investment plan to invest 100 trillion won to secure future business capabilities.

Chairman Chung’s future business blueprint can be summarized mainly as electrification and mobility. These two are the core pillars driving the 'transition to a smart mobility solutions company' that he has emphasized.

Smart mobility solutions focus on Urban Air Mobility (UAM), Purpose-built Air Vehicles (PAV), and Mobility Transfer Hubs. At the 2020 CES earlier this year, Chairman Chung announced plans to commercialize UAM by 2028.

From next year, Hyundai Motor Group’s electrification strategy will be in full swing. Hyundai Motor plans to sequentially launch vehicles under the ‘Ioniq’ brand, based on the electric vehicle-exclusive platform E-GMP, starting early next year.

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