[Inside Chodong] Why We Prepare for the Future by Looking at the Past

Toyoda Kiichiro, a young Japanese man working at a textile machinery company, encountered a strange scene during an inspection trip to the United States. It was the early 20th century, and automobiles were running all over the roads thanks to the advent of mass production. Japan, centered on steam locomotives, was falling behind, while America, the land of cars, was seen as prosperous. The following year after returning home, he experienced the Great Kanto Earthquake. During the recovery efforts, he realized the power of automobiles in transporting relief supplies and heavy materials. He decided to enter the automobile business.

People around him advised against it. Kiichiro’s father, Toyoda Sakichi, was known as an inventor king during Japan’s modernization period and had made a lot of money by creating automatic looms. Some said that the successful company might collapse due to reckless ambition. At that time, it was common to just assemble and sell automobile parts imported from American companies like Ford or General Motors (GM). The technological gap was about 30 years. Kiichiro persuaded the company executives to create an automobile division, and 17 like-minded people gathered to study by disassembling American cars. This is the early story of Toyota, which grew into the world’s largest automobile company in the late 20th century.

Chung Ju-yung also believed that Korea needed cars made by its own people. Having worked in vehicle maintenance before and after liberation, Chung Ju-yung entered the automobile business by partnering with Ford, which had entered Korea, initially assembling and selling cars. He saw that as society developed and the national economy grew, railroads alone would be insufficient, and roads and automobiles would be necessary. This was why he started building highways and the automobile business even when cars were scarce.

The Ford Cortina, the first car Hyundai imported, was mainly designed for paved roads, so it was unsuitable for Korea, where most roads were unpaved at the time. It frequently broke down. Ford’s solution was to advise “to avoid driving on unpaved roads.” They showed no willingness to develop cars suited to Korea’s terrain and were stingy with technology transfer. They even obstructed the export process of Korea’s first independently developed model, the Pony. In his later memoirs, Chung Ju-yung wrote most stories concisely but described in detail the process of Hyundai’s founding and anecdotes with Ford. This shows how much he struggled and had unresolved feelings in the early days of the business.

Recalling events that happened in Japan and Korea with a gap of about 40 years helps us gauge the future direction of the automobile industry. It contains keywords that allow us to foresee the landscape of the future automobile industry. It provides clues to questions such as what utility means for a mode of transportation in a society and why technological independence is important. Furthermore, it offers hints on what must be done to improve human life going forward.

Jung Eui-sun, chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, recently mentioned the long-held dreams of senior entrepreneurs from half a century ago at the groundbreaking ceremony of an electric vehicle-only factory. He expressed gratitude, saying that the dreams gathered from all over the country to make our own cars and to earn money and learn technology cultivated the Ulsan plant and that the struggles and efforts to do what no one had done before became the nourishment that made today’s Hyundai Motor. Sakichi, as a child, watched his mother painstakingly spinning thread by hand and resolved with a primal determination to create an automatic loom to “make things easier for her.” This spirit has continued for over 100 years and has become Toyota’s corporate philosophy.

It is difficult to predict how future social mobility will unfold. However, the paths taken by leading companies in Japan and Korea, reflecting on the past while preparing for the future, are noteworthy for providing insight into directionality. We support technology development aimed at humanity.