Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun (L) speaks with Lee Kewsong, Co-Chief Executive Officer of the Carlyle Group, at an event in Seoul on May 23, 2019. (image: Hyundai Motor Group)
SEOUL, May 23 (Korea Bizwire) — The heir apparent of Hyundai Motor Group has vowed to make South Korea’s largest automaker a leading smart mobility solutions provider, emphasizing the need to build strategic partnerships with other mobility companies.
Chung Eui-sun, Hyundai Motor Group’s Executive Vice Chairman, said the group must be recognized beyond being a car manufacturer. The latest remark follows the group’s recent investment in car-hailing firms like Grab and Ola, a move that expanded its presence in global car-sharing markets.
“Younger generations are not as keen on the idea of buying cars or even getting a driving license, so we have to shift our business to service,” Chung said at an event organized by the Carlyle Group in Seoul on Wednesday.
Chung, the only son of Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo, also emphasized that the group must concentrate on improving the quality of its products and services before thinking of new technologies.
“Technology can make driving more convenient, but malfunctions must be minimized. A car cannot reset every time, like a phone or a PC,” he said.
For the plans for the group’s new headquarters in Seoul, known as the Global Business Center (GBC), Chung said the group is considering joint development with other investors.
In 2014, Hyundai Motor Group bought the land for the GBC in southern Seoul for a whopping 10.55 trillion won(US$8.85 billion).
“It’s important to work with investors and develop that land so that we can invest back into our core businesses,” he said.
On the future of the group’s governance, Chung said it is considering “many options to please its investors.”
“I try to listen to our investors as much as possible,” he said. “Investors and the company ultimately share the same goal: to maximize profit.”
(Yonhap)
