Hyundai Motor and Kia Promote Yang Heewon to President and Head of R&D Division

Hyundai Motor Company and Kia announced on the 18th that they have promoted Vice President Yang Heewon to President, appointing him as the head of the R&D division responsible for vehicle hardware (HW) research and development.

Previously, Hyundai Motor Company and Kia carried out an organizational restructuring to separate the hardware (HW) and software (SW) development teams in order to accelerate the development of software-defined vehicles (SDV). Song Changhyun, President of the AVP division, is in charge of software, while the newly appointed President Yang will lead the R&D division responsible for hardware.

Yang Heewon, New President of R&D Headquarters
[Photo by Hyundai Motor Group]

President Yang is an expert with comprehensive capabilities in overall vehicle development, having worked across platform development and design, body design, and project manager (PM) departments. The R&D division will closely collaborate as one team with the newly established AVP division to accelerate Hyundai Motor Company and Kia’s SDV strategy.

A Hyundai Motor Company and Kia official stated, "This personnel appointment aims to simultaneously pursue change for future mobility technology innovation and organizational stability," adding, "Through the R&D one-team system, we will strengthen our ability to respond to the global mobility environment."