[Jeong Eui-seon Ho Launch] Hyundai Motor Group Opens Jeong Eui-seon Era... "Contributing to Humanity's Happiness and Safety" (Comprehensive)

[Asia Economy Reporters Su-yeon Woo and Ji-hee Kim] With Chung Eui-sun officially inaugurated as Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group on the 14th, he presented the direction of the new 'Chung Eui-sun Era' for Hyundai Motor Group. Placing customers at the center of corporate activities, he set a broad dimension of customer value as 'safe and free mobility for humanity,' envisioning the company’s rebirth as one that benefits humanity.

On this day, in a video message sent to all employees across affiliates, Chairman Chung stated, "Inheriting the entrepreneurial spirit, I want to create a new future for Hyundai Motor Group that contributes to the national economy and further to the happiness of humanity together with you." The key themes of his inauguration message were customers, humanity, the future, and sharing.

He pledged to continue development through various means such as electrification technology, autonomous driving, and eco-friendly hydrogen energy mobility to become a company that benefits humanity. Chairman Chung emphasized, "The automobile industry also requires greater change and innovation to build a new paradigm ecosystem," adding, "Hyundai Motor Group aims to realize humanity’s dream of 'safe and free mobility and peaceful life,' share its fruits with customers worldwide, and become a beloved company."

On the 14th, Chung Eui-sun, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, who officially took office, delivered an online message to all employees. Photo by Hyundai Motor Group

Chairman Chung Eui-sun’s Dream... 'Smart Mobility Solution Company'

Since his appointment as Vice Chairman in 2018, Chung Eui-sun declared the grand theme of 'transition to a smart mobility solution company,' putting the 'human-centered' philosophy at the forefront, concretizing the blueprint for eco-friendly vehicles and mobility businesses, and extensively overhauling organizational culture including the personnel system to respond flexibly to changes.

Chairman Chung is expected to further strengthen Hyundai Motor Group’s future car strategy, represented by electrification, autonomous driving, and mobility. He has already announced plans to invest an additional 100 trillion KRW in future car-related research and development by 2024 earlier this year. Through his inauguration message, he reiterated his determination, saying, "We will rapidly realize the imagined future of robotics, Urban Air Mobility (UAM), and smart cities."

Visible results are expected first in the electrification sector. Hyundai Kia Motors is setting next year as the inaugural year for electric vehicles, introducing dedicated electric vehicles based on the Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP). Leading with the electric vehicle brand 'Ioniq,' they aim to sell one million electric vehicles by 2025 and achieve a market share of over 10%, stepping up as a global leader. In the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle sector, another pillar of eco-friendly vehicles, the plan is to lead the entire ecosystem including hydrogen production and charging beyond just finished vehicles.

Developing future mobility solutions, including UAM, which Chairman Chung identifies as a core business area for the group, is also a major task. Earlier this year at CES 2020, he personally announced the smart mobility vision centered on UAM, Purpose-built Air Vehicles (PAV), and mobility transfer hubs (Hub). At that time, he revealed a blueprint to commercialize UAM by 2028 through a strategic partnership with Uber. Full support continues with the recruitment of Dr. Shin Jae-won, a former NASA aerospace engineer, and the establishment of a related business division.

In the autonomous driving sector, the will to accelerate commercialization is strong, going beyond simple collaboration to establishing specialized joint ventures. A representative example is 'Motional,' a joint venture established in March this year with Aptiv. Hyundai Motor Group plans to shorten development and commercialization schedules through joint development methods and commercialize innovative Level 4 autonomous driving technology by 2023. Additionally, they have secured comprehensive cooperation systems regardless of company fields and sizes, including Intel, Nvidia, and Metawave.

Leading the Global Hydrogen Industry and Overcoming the COVID-19 Recession... Tangible Management Achievements

The Hyundai Motor Group board unanimously elected Chung Eui-sun as chairman because he has achieved tangible results that increased corporate value since his appointment as Vice Chairman in 2018.

Chung, who joined Hyundai Motor Group in 1994, was the third-generation successor, so succession was a foregone conclusion, but to truly take control of the group, tangible management achievements were necessary. While serving as an executive until the early 2000s and receiving management training, he began to fully demonstrate his management skills 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.' After Schreyer’s appointment as president, Kia’s global status changed, and the company succeeded in turning profitable as it settled into a virtuous cycle.

After achieving the desired results at Kia Motors, 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 led by him from the initial planning stage through external recruitment and organizational restructuring.

Since becoming Vice Chairman in 2018, the area Chung has devoted the most effort to is realizing a hydrogen society and the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle sector. Last year, he was appointed co-chairman of the International Hydrogen Council, a CEO-level hydrogen industry consortium, and directly presented three key directions for realizing the 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, they succeeded in mass-producing the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell truck and are expanding hydrogen energy use into various fields by exporting hydrogen fuel cell systems beyond the automotive sector.

Meanwhile, Chung Mong-koo, who elevated Hyundai Motor Group to a global top 5 automaker, handed over the group’s leadership to his son and stepped down as Honorary Chairman. On this day, Chung Mong-koo also resigned from his last major position as CEO of Hyundai Mobis.

Chung Eui-sun said, "I feel a heavy sense of mission and responsibility to inherit the great achievements and profound management philosophy of the two previous chairmen and open a new chapter for the future," adding, "Based on the creative group spirit of 'making the impossible possible,' I believe that by encouraging each other and joining forces, we can fully realize the future we dream of together."

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