AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)03/20 Report--

On March 19, Hyundai Motor Group issued a notice that Zheng Mengjiu officially stepped down as chairman of Hyundai Motor. After leaving office, Zheng Mengjiu retained only the positions of unregistered executives of Hyundai Motor and registered directors of Hyundai Mobis. Zheng Yixuan, chief vice chairman of Hyundai Motor, was elected as the new chairman of Hyundai Motor, taking charge of all the operations of the group and accelerating the transformation of the South Korean carmaker to mobile travel.

At this point, Hyundai Motor Group has entered the stage of the third generation of family leaders. In fact, as early as last month, Zheng Mengjiu was ready to give up his seat as chairman and hand over power to his son Zheng Yixuan. However, at the shareholders' meeting, some directors were more likely to elect Hyundai CEO Lee Yuanxi as the new chairman.

According to the data, Zheng Yixuan was born in 1970, completed his undergraduate and MBA studies in Korea Koryo University School of Economics and Management and San Francisco State University in the United States, joined Hyundai Motor in 1999 as the room chief of Hyundai Motor, then held positions in Hyundai Motor, Hyundai Mobis and Kia Motor, and Zheng Yixuan served as Chief Vice President of Hyundai Motor Group since September 2018.

Hyundai Motor Group was founded in 1967 by Chung Ju-Yung. Compared with other car companies in the world, Hyundai has a shorter history. In 1998, Kia signed an equity transfer agreement with Hyundai and established the Hyundai Kia Automobile Group with Hyundai in 2000; in 2001, Hyundai completed its first "handover" in history. Chung Mong-Koo inherited the chairman of his father, Chung Ju-Yung, and in 2007 Hyundai Kia Automobile Group became the fifth largest automobile production group in the world.

Hyundai Motor Group sold 7.19 million vehicles worldwide in 2019, down 3 per cent from a year earlier, according to official figures. Of these, Hyundai sold 4.42 million vehicles and Kia sold 2.77 million vehicles, below the annual sales target of 7.6 million vehicles. Hyundai Motor Group expects total sales in 2020 to increase by 350000 vehicles over 2019, up 5% to 7.54 million vehicles compared with 2019.

Hyundai Automobile has officially entered the era of Zheng Yixuan, but Zheng Yixuan's future is not easy.

Sales of the South Korean carmaker have continued to decline since the outbreak, and several factories in South Korea have been forced to stop production because of the epidemic. Sales figures show that global car sales are now only 275000 in February, down 13% from a year earlier. Of these, Hyundai sales fell 26 per cent to 39000 in South Korea, 10 per cent to 236000 in overseas markets and 97.4 per cent to 1007 in China.

Hyundai is in an even more difficult position in the Chinese market. Hyundai's sales in China fell to 716000 in 2019, down 9.4 per cent from a year earlier. The sudden rise of independent brands and the decline of luxury brand prices have caused Hyundai to lose its cost-effective advantage.

As the epidemic accelerates the spread of major automobile markets, especially the local influence of the South Korean market, Hyundai Motor's performance in 2020 is full of variables.

COVID-19 was diagnosed by an employee at Hyundai's plant in Alabama on Wednesday, and production at the plant was suspended. It is unclear when it will resume operations. It is understood that the factory produces about 370000 vehicles a year, including Sonata, Santa Fe and Elantra models.

Some industry insiders said that Hyundai Motor Group is now pinning its hopes on Zheng Yixuan, hoping that during his tenure as chairman, he will be able to properly deal with this unexpected severe business situation.

At the shareholders' meeting, Hyundai announced the addition of electric car charging business and future travel business. Hyundai will launch 38 new energy models by 2025 and will invest 100 trillion won to focus on vehicle sales, dividing the current business into smart mobile devices and smart mobile services, Zheng said. Hyundai's ambition is to become one of the top three electric car manufacturers in the world by 2025.

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