[Jeong Eui-sun's Era Launch] Leading the Global Hydrogen Industry... Expanding Market Share Despite COVID-19 Recession

Chairman Chung Eui-sun's Management Achievements Since Joining the Group
Led Entire Genesis Brand Launch Process
Entered Motorsports and Launched High-Performance N Brand
Released World's First Mass-Produced SUV and Large Truck

[Asia Economy Reporter Su-yeon Woo] The unanimous election of Chairman Chung Eui-sun by the Hyundai Motor Group board is due to his tangible achievements in enhancing corporate value since his appointment as Vice Chairman in 2018. Under Chairman Chung's leadership, Hyundai Motor Group has secured a leading position in the global hydrogen industry, responded to the future car market through proactive investments, and continued innovative growth by increasing global market share even amid the COVID-19 crisis.

Chung, who joined Hyundai Motor Group in 1994, was the third-generation successor, and while succession was expected, visible management achievements were necessary to truly take control of the group. Having served as an executive until the early 2000s to receive management training, he began to demonstrate his full managerial capabilities when he became CEO of Kia Motors in 2005.

He made a bold move by recruiting Peter Schreyer, known as one of the world's top three designers, establishing the tradition of 'Design Kia.' Since Schreyer's arrival, Kia's global status changed, and the company successfully transitioned to profitability as it settled into a virtuous cycle.

After achieving initial success at Kia Motors, Chairman Chung moved to Hyundai Motor Company and contributed to Hyundai-Kia Motors' growth into the world's fifth-largest automaker. The Genesis brand, now recognized for quality even in overseas markets, was entirely led by him from the initial planning stage through external recruitment and organizational restructuring.

Chung Euisun, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group

His decision to enter motorsports and launch the high-performance N brand was also Chairman Chung's choice. This was a strategic decision to enhance mass-production vehicle technology through high-performance car technology development and to elevate global brand value. To this end, he directly recruited Albert Biermann, who was in charge of high-performance model R&D at BMW, and established dedicated high-performance vehicle development divisions in Namyang and Europe. Hyundai Motorsport teams have achieved excellent results in global competitions such as the WRC.

Since becoming Vice Chairman in 2018, the area Chairman Chung has devoted the most effort to is the realization of a hydrogen society and the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle sector. Last year, he was appointed co-chairman of the International Hydrogen Council, a CEO consortium in the hydrogen field, and personally presented three key directions for realizing a hydrogen economy.

With full support for hydrogen fuel cell system development, Hyundai Motor Group launched the world's first mass-produced hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, the Tucson Fuel Cell, in 2013, and introduced the second-generation hydrogen fuel cell vehicle Nexo in 2018. Recently, the group succeeded in mass-producing the world's first hydrogen fuel cell truck and is expanding the use of hydrogen energy into various fields by exporting hydrogen fuel cell systems to non-automotive sectors.

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