Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo presided over a monthly strategic meeting of the group’s CEOs at the group headquarters in Yangjae-dong, southeastern Seoul, on Jan. 25. There, he demanded the group be a trend-setter.
The meeting took place on the last Monday in January. It had been designed to take stock of the group’s monthly performances, but the gathering was the first of the year and turned into a discussion on ways to work out management strategies. It was also noteworthy that the latest meeting lasted more than three hours, which is twice as long as conventional meetings. Chairman Chung told some of the participants to present detailed plans rather than giving vague answers.
Chairman Chung stressed a “strategic mind” to be a trend setter rather than following trends, which he considers essential to maintain Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors’s competitive edge. The mood at the meeting differed from previous gatherings.
Chairman Chung began delivering speeches imbued with a sense of crises late last year. A meeting of CEOs of the group’s overseas corporations he preside over in mid-January was the latest example of the message that the group has to cope with crises. At that time, Chairman Chung, projecting that outlooks of the global automobile market were not rosy, emphasized the need for building a foundation for fundamental changes. He put his intention and determination in context while delivering his New Year’s address earlier this year. “Existing makers stage more fierce competition, coupled with an age of structural changes, caused by digitalization of vehicles,” Chairman Chung said of the stark situation of the automobile industry. “It is more important to secure future competitiveness for a sustainable growth.”
Speaking objectively, there is no reason only Hyundai Motor Group is faced with a crisis among Korean automakers. The automobile group has seen its performance suffering a setback in performances, mainly due to factors related to the business cycle, caused by the sagging economies of the emerging countries. The Korean automobile industry may differ from such industrial fields as the heavy industry faced with a crisis of survival.
The reality is that Hyundai Motor Group, which had demonstrated explosive outward growth entering into the 2000s, shows signs of hitting a wall. No wonder the automobile group could keep on posting explosive growth a decade ago. The group might be at a watershed of whether it is able to secure more growth momentum. Without imminent action, a collapse could be around the corner.
Hyundai Motor Group is the only automaker in Korea to have the potential to cope with such tremendous changes. Some people were not optimistic regarding Chairman Chung’s commitment to improve quality in the early 2000s, but he has managed to achieve that mission, a group official said. Group officials have a sense of determination and confidence that the group will grind out innovative self-driving and electric vehicles, he added.
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Hyundai Motor Group’s headquarters in Yangjae-dong, southeastern Seoul. (Photos:Hyundai Motor Group)
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