Hyundai Motor Group has announced key executive appointments for the year 2024 as part of its aims to solidify sustainable growth and better prepare for uncertainties in the global business environment. As part of the changes, Jaehoon Chang is promoted to Vice Chair of Hyundai Motor Group – Automotive Division, effective January 1, 2025.
Since his appointment as CEO of Hyundai Motor in 2020, Chang has handled the company despite uncertain business environments, such as escalating geopolitical risks, changing paradigms in product and technology, and the global pandemic. His leadership has driven aggressive business strategies, agile market responses, and profitability enhancement initiatives.
Chang is recognized for laying the groundwork for Hyundai Motor’s long-term competitiveness through achievements that include spearheading the hydrogen initiative and the successful IPO of Hyundai Motor India Limited in India.
Looking ahead, Chang will oversee the entire value chain, including product planning, supply chain management manufacturing, and quality assessment. He will optimize business operations across the automotive business while securing internal synergies and building foundational systems for cost and quality innovation to ensure sustainable future competitiveness.
Jose Munoz has been appointed president and CEO of Hyundai Motor Company to advance the global management framework and solidify customer-focused mobility innovation through diverse powertrain offerings, including electric, hybrid, ICE and hydrogen technologies, effective January 1, 2025.
As a result, Munozz was appointed as the first non-Korean CEO of Hyundai Motor. Munoz joined Hyundai Motor Company in 2019 as President and Global Chief Operating Officer and President and CEO of Hyundai and Genesis Motor North America. Munoz was announced as an internal director of Hyundai Motor in 2022. Before joining Hyundai Motor, he was Nissan’s Chief Performance Officer and Head of North America and China operations.
Sung Kim has been appointed as president of Hyundai Motor Company to manage the business effectively through global economic uncertainties, effective January 1, 2025.
As a foremost expert on East Asian and Korean Peninsula affairs in the United States, Kim has held key roles across successive US administrations, including the Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden governments. Following his retirement from the US Department of State, Kim joined Hyundai Motor Group as an advisor in January 2024, supporting Hyundai Motor’s global trade and policy strategies and external networking.
Kim will oversee global external affairs, analyze and research domestic and international policy trends, and lead communications and PR initiatives. He will focus on increasing synergies across the company’s intelligence functions, strengthening external networking and advancing global protocol capabilities.
Jun Young Choi has been promoted to President of Kia Corporation from Head of Domestic Production Division and Chief Safety Officer (CSO).
Choi has been instrumental in securing Kia’s highest-ever performance as Head of Domestic Production. As CEO of the Kia Tigers baseball team, Choi also guided the team to victory in the 2024 KBO League and the Korean Series.
Kyoo Bok Lee, CEO of Hyundai Glovis, was promoted to President. To strengthen sustainable management and accelerate business transformation, the Group has appointed Cheol Seung Baek as CEO of Hyundai Transys and Joon Dong Oh as CEO of Hyundai KEFICO.
Moving forward, Baek will focus on ensuring continuity in Hyundai Transys’s core business areas – powertrain, electrification, and seating – while addressing critical issues such as stabilizing labour relations and fortifying management systems. The current Head of the Electrification Manufacturing Engineering Center, Oh has been promoted to Executive Vice President and nominated as CEO of Hyundai KEFICO.
