Hyundai Motor replaces lead designer, R&D head in major reshuffle under younger Chung

Hyundai Motor Group said Friday it replaced its top foreign executives in design and research & development (R&D) in the latest regular reshuffle that includes more than 200 promotions to senior positions, in a generational change under the new leadership of Chairman Euisun Chung.

Peter Schreyer, a renowned former Audi designer who has led Hyundai Motor’s design management, is stepping down and will serve as an adviser to the automobile company, Hyundai said in a press release.

Lee Sang-yup, head of Hyundai’s Global Design Center who was promoted to an executive vice president, will take over Schreyer’s post.

Albert Biermann, the head of Hyundai’s R&D division, will be replaced by Park Jung-guk, president and head of the hydrogen fuel cell division at Hyundai, the company said. Biermann will continue to serve as a technical adviser.

Hyundai also promoted 203 employees to senior executives, the largest ever, according to the company, which marks a generational change after Chairman Chung, who succeeded his father, Chung Mong-koo, in October last year, took the helm of the country’s No. 2 auto conglomerate.

The latest reshuffle signals that the junior Chung, 50, will further push his ambitious drive for future mobility, such as hydrogen-powered cars, self-driving, infotainment, and other advanced information and communications technologies, to boost the automaker’s competitiveness.

Choo Kyo-woong, head of the automaker’s electronics and infotainment development; Kim Heung-soo, chief of future growth planning and electric vehicle (EV) division; and Lim Tae-won, chief of advanced technologies and hydrogen and fuel cell department, were among those elevated to executive vice presidents.

The company also hired Jin Eun-sook, former chief technology officer at NHN Corp., as the new executive vice president and head of the ICT innovation division.

About a third of the newly promoted executives are in their 40s, with about 37 percent of the R&D staff earning promotions, according to Hyundai.