(clockwise) Luc Donckerwolke, the head of the Hyundai Motor Design Center; new Senior Research Councilor Park Jong-sul, Assistant Director Ahn Hyun-jopo, head of the Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors IT Planning Office, and Senior Executive Vice President Wang Soo-bok, head of Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors China Business Division.(Photos:HMG)

Hyundai Motor Group has hired Manfred Fitzgerald, former Lamborghini director for brand and design, and Luc Donckerwolke, Bentley’s ex-design boss, to help its premium brand Genesis make a splash in the global market. 

The group also conducted its 2016 regular reshuffle of executives, promoting 368 people, including eight new senior executive vice presidents on Dec. 28.

Fitzgerald has been appointed to be an executive in charge of strategies, overseeing Hyundai Motor’s premium brand. He has been credited with his leading roles in brand promotion of Lamborghini while serving as an executive in charge of marketing strategies, advertising and exploration of dealerships. Donckerwolke has been appointed to the head of the Hyundai Motor Design Center. He is in charge of the group’s design innovation and design development, along with Peter Schreyer, an executive in charge of Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors’ design. Donckerwolke, who won 12 premier design awards, including the European Designer Award of the Year, served as head of design at Bentley, Lamborghini and Seat and also worked as a stylist at Audi. 

The latest reshuffle involved the promotion of 368 executives, the least since 2012, and 15 percent lower than last year’s. 

A Hyundai Motor official said the motor group has reduced promotions in the latest reshuffle, reflecting worsening management uncertainties and the group’s poorer than expected management performances.  

Hyundai Motor Group has reinforced R&D manpower charged with exploring future technologies. Executives in charge of R&D affairs who got promoted numbered 158, accounting for 42.9 percent of the group’s total promotions. The group appointed one senior research councilor and three research councilors in charge of the development of future technologies, including eco-friendly cars. New Senior Research Councilor Park Jong-sul has been known as a prominent expert in the transmission segment, as he submitted some 200 patent applications. The research councilor system was introduced in 2009 with the goal of helping researchers commit themselves only to research. 

Wang Soo-bok, head of Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors China Business Division, was promoted to senior executive vice president in recognition for his leading roles in solidifying the company’s business presence in China. Suh Bo-shin, in charge of power train at Hyunai Motor and Kia Motors, was promoted to senior executive vice president for his contribution to improving power train technologies. Kim Seung-jin, chief of the Global Future Strategy Task Force at Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, was promoted to senior executive vice president. 

Two women were promoted. Ahn Hyun-joo, head of the Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors IT Planning Office, was the first female executive hired in a public contest who was promoted to a assistant director. Ahn was one of the group’s representative IT experts. She held such positions as the Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors Sales Information Support Team and Informatization Strategy Team. Lee Joo-yeon, head of the Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors New Digital Business Office, was promoted to a director in recognition for her contribution in marketing and new business fields. 

The latest reshuffle involved many promotions based on performances. Thirty-two executives or 23.9 percent of the 134 promoted executives got promotions based on their performance regardless of seniority.