Hyundai Motor picks first foreign CEO in reshuffle as it braces for Trump

11:31 pm Thursday, November 14th, 2024

By Heekyong Yang and Hyunjoo Jin

SEOUL (Reuters) -Hyundai Motor named Jose Munoz, current U.S. chief and global chief operating officer, as co-chief executive officer on Friday, marking a rare appointment of a foreign national to a CEO post at a major South Korean conglomerate.

The reshuffle at the helm of the world’s third-biggest automaker by sales when combined with affiliate Kia comes as South Korean businesses that have invested heavily in the United States brace for Donald Trump’s second presidency.

Leadership change will “enhance global competitiveness” and help “better prepare for uncertainties in the global business environment,” the automaker said in a statement.

Hyundai Motor currently has three co-CEOs. Munoz will join Euisun Chung and Lee Dong-seok as well as Chang Jae-hoon who will also become group vice chair overseeing the automotive division.

Sung Kim, a former U.S. diplomat who was part of a team assisting President-elect Trump in his first term at a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, was named president overseeing global external affairs.

Hyundai with Kia rank second in U.S. sales of electric vehicles after Tesla. They are bracing for what could be huge impact from Trump’s pledge to impose tariffs on imports and cut subsidies for EVs.

Trump has also floated the idea of imposing 200% tariffs on cars imported from Mexico, where Kia operates a production site.

Munoz, a Spanish native and U.S. citizen, joined the automaker in 2019 and was formerly CEO of Hyundai Motor America. He has been credited with Hyundai’s increased commitment to electrification and growth in sales across multiple categories.

“Munoz is appointed as the first non-Korean CEO of Hyundai Motor… He is expected to enhance the company’s global management systems and further elevate its stature as a leading global brand,” the South Korean automaker said.

“As CEO, Munoz will play a critical role in helping the company navigate potential challenges posed by a second Trump administration,” Kiwoom Securities analyst Shin Yoon-chul said.

Hyundai has hired several former South Korean diplomats in recent years to its “Global Policy Office” in a move widely seen as readying for policy uncertainty under a change in U.S. administration.

It brought in Sung Kim as an adviser in January to “support Hyundai’s response to global trade and policy and external networking”.

Hyundai Motor has invested $12.6 billion to produce EVs and battery cells in the U.S. state of Georgia – its largest investment outside South Korea, spurred by incentives that came with the incumbent administration’s push to shift more of the EV supply chain to the United States and away from Asia.

However, Trump’s transition team plans to end a $7,500 consumer tax credit for EV purchases as part of broader tax reform legislation, Reuters previously reported, citing sources.

Munoz was once considered a potential candidate to take the lead at Japan’s Nissan Motor after the ouster of Carlos Ghosn.

(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and Heekyong Yang; Writing by Jack Kim; Editing by Ed Davies and Christopher Cushing)