Jang Jae-hoon, Hyundai Motor President, "We Will Become a Leader in the Hydrogen Society"

Speaker at the Nikkei World Business Leaders Meeting Hosted by Nikkei

Jang Jae-hoon, President of Hyundai Motor Company, stated on the 28th that "we will become the leader of the hydrogen society," expressing the group's intention to establish a hydrogen economy encompassing automobiles, railway vehicles, and steelmaking, according to a report by Nihon Keizai Shimbun.

Jang Jae-hoon, President of Hyundai Motor Company.
Photo by Yonhap News

According to the report, President Jang attended as a speaker at the 26th World Executive Meeting hosted by Nikkei held in Tokyo on the same day, saying, "Our competitive advantage is strong in the energy sector, and especially, we will create a hydrogen economy."

Regarding hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCVs), he said, "We want to be number one in both passenger cars and commercial vehicles," and added, "We aim to use hydrogen in logistics to make it clean."

On the slowdown in the electric vehicle (EV) market growth, he described it as an "opportunity to improve the usage environment of next-generation EVs," expressing his determination to develop more competitive next-generation batteries.

As Hyundai's EV distribution strategy in Japan, he said, "We will increase customer touchpoints to raise awareness and expand opportunities to experience EVs."

President Jang acknowledged that Hyundai's presence in the Japanese market is still weak, stating, "It is difficult, but we must sell well."

Hyundai re-entered the Japanese passenger car market in 2022 after about 12 years. It is targeting the EV market with models like the Ioniq 5. Next year, it plans to add the Casper EV to its lineup.