8 Trillion Won Investment Review, Chairman Chung Eui-sun Heads to the US Again

Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun Heads to the U.S. After 2 Months
Expected to Review $8 Trillion U.S. Investment While Touring Eastern Regions Including Boston and New York

Chung Eui-sun, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group

[Asia Economy Reporter Changhwan Lee] Chung Euisun, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group (photo), has embarked on a business trip to the United States. This comes two months after his visit in April to Hyundai Motor America’s sales corporation in Los Angeles and the Hyundai plant in Alabama, to review the $7.4 billion (8.2 trillion KRW) investment plan announced last month.

According to industry sources on the 14th, Chairman Chung departed for the U.S. yesterday afternoon from Seoul Gimpo International Airport aboard Hyundai Motor Group’s private jet.

The main destinations of this trip are the East Coast cities of Boston and New York. Chairman Chung plans to review Hyundai Motor Group’s new business plans in the East Coast region. Ahead of last month’s Korea-U.S. summit, Hyundai announced it would invest 8.2 trillion KRW over the next five years in the U.S. market to localize electric vehicle production and secure future growth engines such as hydrogen, urban air mobility (UAM), robotics, and autonomous driving.

This trip by Chairman Chung is interpreted as a demonstration of Hyundai Motor Group’s commitment to accelerating its investments in the U.S.

The first destination is understood to be Boston. Boston is home to Motional, a joint venture between Hyundai Motor Group and U.S. autonomous driving technology company Aptiv, as well as Boston Dynamics, a robotics company acquired by Hyundai Motor.

Motional plans to launch a robotaxi based on the Ioniq 5 in the U.S. in 2023. Chairman Chung has personally acquired a stake in Boston Dynamics. He is prioritizing visits to these key bases of autonomous driving and robotics technology, which Hyundai has identified as future growth engines.

Following Boston, there is a high possibility of visits to New York and Washington, D.C. Hyundai Motor Group is also planning to establish a local corporation in Washington, D.C. as early as the first half of the year to oversee its UAM business.

Chairman Chung will also review Hyundai Motor Group’s current U.S. automobile sales, which have recently achieved record-high performance. Last month, Hyundai and Kia recorded their highest sales since entering the U.S. market. In May, Hyundai’s market share in the U.S. reached 5.9%, and Kia’s was 5.1%, the highest since May 2011. He may also encourage local employees directly during this visit.