Hyundai Motor Company CEO Jose Munoz (right) takes questions from staff during his first town hall meeting held at the Hyundai Motor Group’s Namyang R&D Center in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. (Hyundai Motor Group)
Hyundai Motor Company CEO Jose Munoz (right) takes questions from staff during his first town hall meeting held at the Hyundai Motor Group’s Namyang R&D Center in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. (Hyundai Motor Group)

Hyundai Motor Company CEO Jose Munoz highlighted quality and safety as the company’s top priorities amid deepening uncertainties fueled by the second Donald Trump administration’s trade policies, along with a slowdown in the electric vehicle market.

“Our foremost goal is to present deliver vehicles with the (advanced) technology and features customers desire, all while ensuring the highest quality and exceptional design,” said Munoz during his first town hall meeting on Thursday held at the Hyundai Motor Group’s Namyang R&D Center in Gyeonggi Province. “We should avoid releasing any products that are not perfect to the market.”

Following Munoz’s first two months as the new CEO, the event brought together over 15,800 employees, both virtually and on-site. Participants included staff from the Namyang center, Yangjae headquarters, and Pangyo and Uiwang research centers, as well as personnel from overseas bases in China, India, Indonesia and more. Namyang research center executives―Yang Hee-won, president of research and development division, and Kim Hye-in, vice president of human resources―were also present.

According to the Hyundai CEO, the carmaker’s core goals include achieving superior technology, quality and design, implementing customized strategies tailored to the needs of each market and providing customer-oriented services.

Munoz also addressed the ongoing market challenges and stated, “We will flexibly adapt to meet our customers’ demands. …The company will continually invest in a diverse portfolio, including electric vehicles, hybrid EVs, plug-in hybrid EVs and fuel-cell EVs, and strive to work two to three times harder than our competitors.”

Commenting on Hyundai Motor’s achievements and competitiveness in autonomous driving technology, Munoz noted that the company plans to gather self-driving data, advance its technological prowess and leverage various partnerships to achieve safe and outstanding driving capabilities.

Last month, the carmaker partnered with Nvidia to leverage the US tech giant’s robotics platform, the Issac, to accelerate the learning speed of its autonomous driving and robotics systems. The two companies also look to upgrade Hyundai Motor’s Level Zero to Three autonomous driving systems to Level Four, which requires no driver, as well as develop verification simulations.

Munoz, having joined Hyundai Motor in 2019 as global chief operating officer and president and CEO of Hyundai and Genesis Motor North America, was recognized for his achievements in strengthening the competitiveness of local dealerships and profitability-driven management, setting record-high performances in the region. In 2022, his role expanded to overseeing global operations in Europe, India, the Middle East and more, along with serving as an inside director for Hyundai.


hyejin2@heraldcorp.com