Hyundai Motor Co. has tapped José Muñoz, its global chief operating officer (COO) and head of North and South American operations, as new chief executive, industry sources said on Thursday.
His appointment to be announced on Friday came as a surprise as he will become the first foreign CEO for not only the South Korean carmaker, but also for a major company in the country.
Hyundai’s CEO replacement comes as the carmaker is accelerating its globale expansion and electrification, while confronting heightened uncertainties as Donald Trump returns to presidency in Washington in January next year
Muñoz, a former senior executive of Nissan Motor Co., is credited with Hyundai’s ascent in the world’s second-largest automobile market, where its sales sharply increased under his leadership.
He has also spearheaded Hyundai’s shift toward sports utility vehicle away from gasoline sedan-focused marketing, alongside a smooth transition to electric and hybrid models.
Prior to joining Hyundai in 2019, the incoming Spanish CEO had worked at Nissan from 2004 to 2014 after a brief stint at Toyota Motor Co. and now-defunct Daewoo Motor.
He had headed Nissan’s sales in Europe and Mexico and served as chief performance officer since 2016.
At Hyundai, Muñoz oversees North and South American operations of Hyundai Motor Group, including Kia Corp, as global COO.
“Muñoz has proven his ability as head of North American operations. That’s why he was assigned the role of managing Hyundai Motor’s whole operations,” said an automobile industry official.
“Donald Trump’s return as US president also affected the decision to appoint hime as the US market has become a more important market than ever.”
In 2023, Hyundai Motor’s US sales have jumped to 870,000 versus 680,000 units in 2018.
Its North American unit swung to a profit of 2.8 trillion won in 2023, compared with a loss of 330.1 billion won. Sales more than doubled to 40.8 trillion won from 15.3 trillion won over the same period.
Once taking the helm of Hyundai Motor, he is expected to prioritize global sales growth and accelerate its electrification while dealing with an EV chasm, or a slowdown in EV demand.
Muñoz recently told The Korea Economic Daily in the US that the company has built up the lineup of high-quality, eco-friendly models with enhanced safety and designs, so it will push forward with its electrification strategy.
Hyundai Motor Group operates production lines in 10 countries, including the US, China, India and Europe and Hyundai Motor runs sales outlets across 64 cities.
It has already recruited foreign R&D talent as executives and employs qualified designers.
“Hyundai Motor Group will continue to hire foreign talent to lead the future mobility such as electric vehicles, hydrogen vehicles, software-driven vehicles, urban air transportation and robots,” said the automotive industry official.
By Jae-Fu Kim and Jung-Eun Shin
hu@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kime dited this article
