SK On has dismissed its Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) from the position. This move is interpreted as an organizational restructuring in response to continued poor performance amid the slowdown in electric vehicle demand (Chasm).
According to industry sources on the 19th, Vice President Sung Min-seok recently stepped down from the CCO role. This comes 10 months after he was recruited by SK On in August last year.
Vice President Sung built nearly 30 years of experience in the automotive industry, including working at the American automaker Ford and serving as CEO of Hanon Systems. SK On established the CCO position and brought in Sung to strengthen its capabilities in dealing with automakers, but reportedly dismissed him due to lack of results.
It is known that Sung’s future role and the appointment of a successor CCO have not yet been decided. Inside and outside the company, there are also expectations that the CCO position may be abolished as part of a 'organizational slimming' policy that eliminates some Chief-level roles.
SK On has been experiencing poor performance due to the electric vehicle chasm, posting an operating loss of 581.8 billion KRW last year and a deficit of 331.5 billion KRW in the first quarter of this year.
There are speculations that SK Group will undertake a reorganization of its battery business. Recently, Choi Jae-won, senior vice chairman and younger brother of SK Group Chairman Choi Tae-won, moved to SK Innovation, the parent company of SK On, leading some to interpret this as an effort to support the 'rescue of SK On.'
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