With Hyundai Motor Group expected to carry out president-level appointments as early as this month, attention is focused on how it will reshape the group's leadership. Recently, groups such as SK Group promoted a large number of younger executives to president. While the prevailing view is that Hyundai Motor Group will opt for relative stability, some assess that responses to U.S. tariff measures and new technology development fell short of expectations, leaving room for change. Chung Eui-sun is expected to deliberate deeply.
According to business community sources on the 11th, Hyundai Motor Group recently began working-level preparations for president-level and follow-up executive appointments. Hyundai Motor Group announced its president-level appointments on Nov. 15 last year. There was speculation that this year's appointments would come around the same time as last year, but the timeline is now more likely to be delayed by one to two weeks from expectations.
Earlier, on the 30th, SK Group released its president-level appointments, promoting Lee Hyung-hee, head of communications at the SK Supex Council (president), to vice chairman. At the same time, it appointed five executives born in the 1970s as presidents, building a younger lineup of presidents.
Samsung Electronics reorganized its overarching control tower, the Business Support Task Force (TF), into the Business Support Office. In the process, it let Chung Hyun-ho, head of the Business Support Office (vice chairman), who had played the role of the "No. 2" assisting Chairman Lee Jae-yong, step down and tapped Park Hark-kyu, head of the Business Support Office (president), for the post.
Inside and outside Hyundai Motor Group, many expect this round of president-level appointments to focus more on supplementation and adjustments rather than sweeping change. That is because in last year's reshuffle, then-President Jang Jae-hoon was promoted to vice chairman and many key job holders and affiliate presidents were replaced with new faces.
However, responses to multiple external headwinds such as high U.S. tariff rates and sluggish performance are being cited as variables for this year's president-level appointments.
Among Hyundai Motor Group's presidents, the figures drawing the most attention regarding their positions are President Sung Kim, who oversees government relations, and President José Muñoz, who leads finished vehicle sales. The two were both appointed last year as Hyundai Motor's first foreign presidents, attracting attention in the business community. However, recently there have been evaluations inside and outside the group that put a "question mark" on their performance.
President Sung Kim led the response this year to tariff pressure from the Donald Trump administration. Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun met President Trump at the White House in Mar. and pledged $21 billion (about 31 trillion won) in investment in the United States, and Sung Kim, a former U.S. diplomat with deep ties in local political and government circles, was credited with playing a leading role in the process. However, despite receiving high praise from President Trump for the large-scale U.S. investment, Hyundai Motor Group failed to secure tangible benefits such as lowering tariff rates.
In the case of President Muñoz, even as the United States has imposed a 25% tariff on imported cars since Apr., Hyundai Motor is receiving positive marks for holding up in sales for the time being. However, some analyze that domestic sales were weaker than expected and that the response to the decline in electric vehicle sales was inadequate. Hyundai Motor's operating profit in the third quarter of this year was 253.73 billion won, down 29.2% from a year earlier.
There is also speculation inside and outside the group that Hyundai Motor Group may seek changes in the research and development field by altering its leadership structure or reinforcing it with new faces.
At Hyundai Motor Group, since former President Kim Yong-hwa, the chief technology officer (CTO), stepped down at the end of 2023, there has been no single control tower for research and development. Currently, mass-production vehicle development is handled by Yang Hee-won, head of the research and development division (president), while the mobility software field is handled by Song Chang-hyun, CEO of 42dot and head of the AVP division (president), operating under a "two-top system."
Hyundai Motor Group is seen as lagging competitors in areas such as Autonomous Driving, and there are also opinions that change is needed as it must accelerate new businesses such as artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. In addition, the vacancy left by former President Shin Jae-won, who oversaw future aviation mobility and stepped down in Aug., also needs to be filled.
Outside Hyundai Motor, many expect that most presidents appointed last year at major affiliates will keep their posts. President Choi Jun-young of Kia, President Lee Gyu-bok of Hyundai GLOVIS, and President Joo Woo-Jeong of Hyundai Engineering were appointed last year and have had relatively short tenures. In addition, CEO Lee Han-woo of Hyundai E&C, CEO Baek Cheol-seung of Hyundai Transys, and CEO Oh Joon-dong of Hyundai Kefico, all at the executive vice president level, were also tapped last year.
However, some say it will be difficult for certain affiliate CEOs or presidents to be assured of another term. At Hyundai Engineering, a series of incidents followed, starting with a bridge collapse on the Sejong–Anseong Expressway in Feb., a fatal fall at a new apartment construction site in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, in Mar., and another fatal fall at a new officetel construction site in Asan, South Chungcheong. As a result, there is speculation that the group could hold President Joo accountable for repeated lapses in safety management.
Whether the "long-serving CEO" wins another term is also a point to watch. Among Hyundai Motor Group's presidents, the longest-serving is Hyundai Rotem President Lee Yong-bae, who took office in Mar. 2020. Since Lee became president, Hyundai Rotem has steadily improved its performance. In the third quarter of this year, sales were 1.6196 trillion won, up 48.1% from a year earlier, and operating profit surged 102.1% to 277.7 billion won.
Meanwhile, on the 29th, Hyundai Motor Group promoted Executive Vice President Kim Jung-ah, born in 1973, to be the new CEO of the group's advertising affiliate INNOCEAN. Compared with most other presidents, who are over 60, Kim is much younger. Inside and outside the group, some interpret this as reflecting Chairman Chung Eui-sun's desire to select younger leaders in preparation for diverse market variables and the pace of technological advancement.