The representative listed on Hyundai Motor's business registration certificate has been changed from President José Muñoz to Vice President Choi Young-il, who oversees domestic production. Hyundai Motor said the move was for administrative convenience, but given that Muñoz has overseen Hyundai Motor's overall management, some interpret the change of representative on the business registration as a sign that his standing or position could shift.
According to the industry on the 16th, Hyundai Motor notified internally that as of the 14th the representative on its business registration certificate was changed from President Muñoz to Vice President Choi. As a result, business registration certificates were reissued for all business sites, including headquarters, each plant and research center, service centers, and rental business sites.
Born in 1965, Vice President Choi is an engineering expert who graduated from Kyungpook National University with a degree in mechanical engineering, and in December last year was promoted from senior managing director and appointed to oversee domestic production. He was then appointed as a joint representative director of Hyundai Motor at the regular shareholders meeting last month. Hyundai Motor currently has three representative directors: Vice President Choi, Chairman Chung Eui-sun, and President Muñoz.
Hyundai Motor said the change of the representative listed on the business registration certificate from President Muñoz to Vice President Choi was for administrative convenience. A Hyundai Motor official said, "To establish domestic plants and expand production facilities, we have to submit various documents and go through complicated administrative procedures. Since President Muñoz is a foreign national and is often overseas, we changed it to Vice President Choi, one of the representative directors." Muñoz is a Spanish American.
However, inside Hyundai Motor there is also an interpretation that it could be related to the company's recent slump. Hyundai Motor posted a record high 186.2544 trillion won in revenue last year, but operating profit fell 19.5% to 11.4678 trillion won.
U.S. auto tariff expense alone of 4.11 trillion won was the main cause of the profitability decline, and sales also lacked momentum. Hyundai Motor's global sales last year (wholesale basis) were 4,138,389 units, down 0.1% from a year earlier. Following a 1.8% drop in 2024 (4,142,357 units), it marked a decline for the second consecutive year. While President Muñoz led a solid performance in the U.S. market, there are assessments that the company has not responded adequately in key markets such as Korea, India, and the Asia-Pacific.
A Hyundai Motor employee said, "As President Muñoz enters his second year in office, some employees complain that with his cost-cutting-focused management he is 'Nissan-izing' the company." Muñoz is a former Nissan executive. Nissan continued intense cost cutting for more than 10 years, which is evaluated to have ultimately led to lower employee morale and weaker technological competitiveness.
There are growing expectations that Hyundai Motor's first-quarter results this year will not be strong. The securities industry expects Hyundai Motor's global sales in the first quarter to be around 970,000 units, down about 2% to 3% from a year earlier. Choi Tae-yong, an analyst at DS Securities, said, "It's due to weaker sales in the Middle East and supply chain production disruptions, including the fire at Safety Industrial, a key parts supplier, and the naphtha turmoil." The first-quarter operating profit consensus (average forecast) is 2.7275 trillion won, down 24.9% from last year.
An auto industry official said, "It is true that having a Korean rather than a foreigner as the representative on the business registration certificate is administratively easier," but added, "Considering that many domestic brands have foreigners listed as representatives on their business registration certificates, it may not be a difficult matter." The official added, "It appears to be a situation where interpretations that there could be changes to President Muñoz's standing or position are likely to emerge."