Hyundai Motor taps US unit chief Jose Munoz as new CEO

Hyundai Motor Co. on Friday named Jose Munoz, its global chief operating officer (COO) and head of North and South American operations, as its new and first foreign chief executive, as the carmaker braces for heightened uncertainties amid Donald Trump's return to the White House.

Munoz' appointment reflects the South Korean carmaker's ambition to rise to a global brand and ramp up its leadership in the electric and hybrid car markets. It also comes as Hyundai Motor Group, which includes Kia Corp., pours $12.6 bilion into building a new manufacturing plant and two battery joint ventures in the US state of Georgia. 

"Munoz drove a profitability-focused sales structure through optimized volume and profit management. This resulted in record sales, market share growth and financial performance for both the Hyundai and Genesis brands in the North American market," Hyundai said in a press release.

He will take over as CEO in January next year. The company's current CEO Chang Jaehoon was promoted to Hyundai Motor Group's vice chairman. 

Munoz, a former senior executive of Nissan Motor Co., has been credited with Hyundai’s ascent in the US, the world’s second-largest car market. The native Spaniard has spearheaded Hyundai’s shift toward sport utility vehicles and away from gas-powered sedan-focused marketing, as well as the introduction of its electric and hybrid models to the region.

"He will also focus on advancing the company’s global management system to further strengthen Hyundai Motor’s status as a global brand," Hyundai added.

Before joining Hyundai in 2019, the incoming CEO worked at Nissan from 2004 to 2014 after stints at Toyota Motor Co. and the now-defunct Daewoo Motor.

At Nissan, he led the carmaker's China and North American operations and took charge of its sales in Europe and Mexico. He served as the Japanese carmaker's chief performance officer since 2016.

“Jose is a proven leader with vast global experience and is ideally suited to lead Hyundai as competitiveness and business uncertainty increases,” Chang said in the press release.

An auto industry official said the return of Donald Trump as US president affected Hyundai's decision to appoint him as CEO. The 59-year-old Munoz, a US citizen, will become the first foreign CEO of a major Korean company.

Hyundai Motor’s US sales leaped to 870,000 in 2023 compared with 680,000 units five years earlier 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 in 2018. Sales more than doubled to 40.8 trillion won from 15.3 trillion won over the same period.

Once at the helm of Hyundai Motor, Munoz is expected to prioritize global sales growth and speed up its electrification amid a global slowdown in EV demand.

Munoz recently told The Korea Economic Daily that the company has built up its lineup of high-quality, eco-friendly models with enhanced safety and design, so it will push forward with its electrification strategy.

Hyundai Motor Group operates auto plants in 10 countries, including the US, China, India and Europe, and runs sales outlets across 64 cities.

Munoz earned his Ph.D in nuclear engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid.

(Updated with Hyundai Motor's announcement of the new CEO)

Write to Jae-Fu Kim and Jung-Eun Shin at hu@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kim edited this article