Departing MK... Final General Meeting of Shareholders

Hyundai Mobis Annual General Meeting
Chung Mong-koo, Honorary Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, Resigns as Director of Hyundai Mobis

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] Honorary Chairman Chung Mong-koo of Hyundai Motor Group has put an end to his career as a business executive by stepping down from his last remaining position as a registered director of Hyundai Mobis on the 24th. Hyundai Mobis is the place where Honorary Chairman Chung, who served as its first president, laid the foundation to grow into a global automotive professional manager. At Hyundai Mobis, he established the groundwork for ‘quality management’ and helped elevate Hyundai Motor and Kia to become the world’s fifth-largest automobile manufacturer.

On the morning of the same day, Hyundai Mobis held a shareholders' meeting at the GS Tower in Yeoksam-dong, Seoul, and newly appointed Ko Young-seok, head of the Research and Development (R&D) Planning and Operations Office, as a new inside director succeeding Honorary Chairman Chung. The recommendation of a managing director-level executive as an inside director for the first time in history is evaluated as reflecting the expertise needed to continue the ‘quality management’ that Honorary Chairman Chung has emphasized.

Although Honorary Chairman Chung recently stepped down from inside director positions at Hyundai Motor, Hyundai Steel, and Hyundai Construction one after another, he had maintained his directorship at Hyundai Mobis. By stepping down from his last-held position as an inside director at Hyundai Mobis, he has relinquished all official titles within the group. Accordingly, when the Fair Trade Commission designates Chairman Chung Eui-sun as the group’s head (same person) in May, Hyundai Motor Group will fully transition to the ‘Chung Eui-sun regime.’

Honorary Chairman Chung has held Hyundai Mobis in special regard. Not only does Hyundai Mobis serve as the holding company of Hyundai Motor Group, but it also provided the foundation that enabled Honorary Chairman Chung to grow Hyundai Motor Group into a global enterprise. He joined Hyundai Motor in 1970 as the head of the Seoul branch, served as head of materials at Hyundai Construction, and director at Hyundai Motor before becoming the first president of Hyundai Junggong (now Hyundai Mobis) in 1977. Through Hyundai Junggong, which primarily focused on container and H-beam manufacturing at the time, Honorary Chairman Chung secured over 30% of the global container market share, wresting dominance from Japan.

In particular, after assuming the chairmanship of Hyundai Junggong in 1987, Honorary Chairman Chung added automobile manufacturing and sales to the company’s business objectives, marking the start of its full-fledged automobile business. The Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) Galloper, launched by Hyundai Junggong in 1991, achieved sales of approximately 23,700 units and a market share of 52% the following year, solidifying Honorary Chairman Chung’s position as a professional manager in the automotive group. After Honorary Chairman Chung became chairman of Hyundai Motor Group and the company was renamed Hyundai Mobis, it transferred various businesses to other affiliates within Hyundai Motor Group and focused its capabilities on producing high value-added automotive modules, growing into the world’s seventh-largest manufacturer of high value-added automotive modules.

Hyundai Mobis 44th Regular General Meeting of Shareholders

[Photo by Hyundai Mobis]

Meanwhile, at the shareholders' meeting, President Cho Sung-hwan and Vice President Bae Hyung-geun, head of the finance division, were appointed as inside directors, while Professor Kim Dae-soo of Korea University’s Business Administration Department and Professor Kang Jin-ah of Seoul National University’s Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Technology Management, Economics, and Policy were appointed as outside directors. Professor Kang became Hyundai Mobis’s first female outside director.

Hyundai Mobis also passed amendments to its articles of incorporation to include the manufacturing and sales of aviation mobility and robot parts as business objectives, as well as approval of financial statements and limits on directors’ remuneration. In his remarks at the shareholders' meeting, Vice President Bae emphasized, "To secure differentiated competitiveness, we will transform our business model into a technology-specialized company centered on software and platforms," adding, "We will also strengthen ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management for sustainable growth."

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