[Exclusive] Hyundai Motor and Kia Restructure R&D Organization... Song Changhyun and Yang Heewon Lead Dual-Top System

Hyundai Motor Company and Kia are reorganizing their research and development (R&D) organizations by separating software (SW) and hardware (HW). They will establish a new AVP headquarters responsible for software development, while the existing organization under the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) will be renamed the R&D headquarters and focus on hardware development, thereby dividing the roles.

According to industry sources on the 16th, Hyundai Motor Company and Kia held a briefing session for employees in the afternoon to explain the R&D organizational restructuring plan. The main point is to consolidate the previously scattered software development personnel into one AVP headquarters and have the organization under the CTO renamed as the R&D headquarters to focus on hardware development.

The head of the AVP headquarters will be President Song Chang-hyun of the SDV headquarters, and the head of the R&D headquarters will be Vice President Yang Hee-won of the TVD headquarters. In particular, the AVP headquarters is expected to lead core future mobility research and development centered on FortyTwoDot, Hyundai Motor Group’s global software center.

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At the end of last year, Hyundai Motor Company and Kia replaced President Kim Yong-hwa, who had served as CTO, signaling a major overhaul of the R&D organization. Industry observers widely expected that with President Kim’s departure, President Song’s influence would strengthen, leading to an organizational restructuring in the direction he advocates.

President Song has emphasized that vehicle development in the SDV era begins with separating hardware and software. He argued that this approach not only accelerates development speed but also shortens verification periods, enabling faster R&D responsiveness.

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