Hyundai Motor’s Chung Mong-koo inducted into Automotive Hall of Fame

Chairman Chung Mong-koo of Hyundai Motor Group will be inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame for his contribution to developing the South Korean automotive group into a world-leading auto manufacturer. Chung has expanded global production bases at an unprecedented pace while complying with the principles of quality management, which is remarkable achievements in the history of the world automotive industry.

Chairman Chung will become the first South Korean inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame, the industry’s top honor, Hyundai Motor Group said Friday. The Automotive Hall of Fame has been annually selecting awardees in three areas since its foundation in 1939. In particular, the Automotive Hall of Fame is considered to be the highest honor as it is given to those who made a significant contribution to the advancement of the auto industry based on historically-valuable achievements and performance.

According to the Automotive Hall of Fame, Chairman Chung has been credited with the success of Hyundai Motor Group. The successful revival of Kia Motors, spearheading the group's growth with new plants in key regions, and creating a highly efficient business structure were cited as some of the reasons for selecting Chung to become an inductee among legendary figures in the auto industry.

While the domestic carmakers were going through an extreme struggle in 1997 due to the Asian financial crisis, Chairman Chung Mong-koo acquired Kia Motors and successfully revived and fostered it as a global automotive brand. Based on such achievement, Hyundai Kia Automotive Group became one of the top five auto manufacturers in the world in 2010.

In addition, Chung is highly regarded for building new plants in key regions and leading the unprecedentedly-fast growth in the global auto history while complying with his principles of quality management. He is also deemed to have created an economic virtuous cycle in the auto sector by accompanying domestic car part manufacturers when building overseas plants and constructing Hyundai Steel’s integrated steelworks to produce steel, a key material for the industry.


Do-Hyong Kim dodo@donga.com