The headquarters of Hyundai Motor and Kia in Seoul / Courtesy of Hyundai Motor Group
Automaker seeks generational shift for future growth engines
By Lee Min-hyung
Lee Seung-jo, left, executive vice president at Hyundai Motor, and Lee Tae-hoon, executive vice president at Kia
Hyundai Motor Group conducted its end-of-year executive reshuffle, focusing on promoting younger officials under its merit-based promotion system, the carmaker said Tuesday.
The move is part of the group’s drive for a generational shift in order to preemptively find next-generation growth engines and boost innovation amid the ongoing paradigm shift in mobility, according to the group.
Executives in their 40s accounted for 21 percent of the total number of executives in 2020, but the figure soared to 41 percent after this year’s reshuffle. A total of 239 executives from the group’s key affiliates, such as Hyundai Motor, Kia and Hyundai Mobis, were promoted this year in recognition of their contributions.
Lee Seung-jo, chief financial officer at Hyundai Motor, became its executive vice president for his efforts to map out the group’s medium to long-term growth strategy and for achieving a financial target this year.
“We have placed a focus on maximizing leadership and organizational efficiency, as the global management environment next year will face growing uncertainties,” a spokesman at Hyundai Motor Group said. “We will take bold steps to promote young executives who can drive the group’s innovation and future business transformation.”
Koo Za-yong, former senior president at Hyundai Motor, was also promoted as the carmaker’s executive vice president for his noteworthy achievement in driving its successful initial public offering in the Indian stock market.
Lee Tae-hoon, who has led Kia’s global business management, became executive vice president at the carmaker for setting agile corporate strategies to remain flexible regarding global automotive demand.
Song Hyun, the new vice president at Hyundai Motor’s interior design group, is one of the two youngest figures promoted to the executive-level post during the latest reshuffle. Joo Si-hyun, former senior research engineer at the carmaker’s robot intelligence software team, also became vice president. Both are 42 years old.
The company also displayed its strong willingness to strengthen its research and tech capabilities to take the lead in the next-generation mobility era driven by eco-friendly vehicles.
A group of executives responsible for the company’s battery, hydrogen energy, and electrification research were promoted in recognition of their efforts to lead the development of future mobility solutions.
The company also expanded the promotion of women executives from four in 2023 to 11 this year.
English (United States) ·