이 기사는 2022년 02월 10일 08:02 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

Hyundai Motor named an overseas market expert to head its Japan operations last year as part of preparations by the South Korean automotive giant to reenter the Japanese passenger car market, which it left a dozen years ago.

In the third quarter of 2021, Lee Jung-wook, a vice president of Hyundai Motor, was appointed as head of its Japanese business unit, Hyundai Mobility Japan, according to company reports.

Before taking the new role, Lee led a task force formed to prepare for the company’s reentry into the Japanese market. He also served as head of Hyundai Motor’s Australia operations from 2017 to 2019.

Hyundai Motor held a press conference at Otemachi Mitsui Hall in Tokyo on Tuesday to announce its renewed intention to make a foray into Japan’s passenger car market, 12 years after withdrawing because of poor sales.


“During the years we were away from the Japanese market, we have expanded into other countries across the world,” Chang Jae-hoon, Hyundai Motor’s president and chief executive, said in a video message at the presentation in Tokyo. “We are proud to introduce our more evolved models to Japanese consumers.”

The press conference comes three months after Chang revealed the company’s reentry plans in an interview with a Japanese media outlet in November last year.

In 2009, Hyundai Motor exited Japan’s passenger car market dominated by local players. It sold about 15,000 vehicles in Japan from 2001 to 2009, with only 600 Hyundai cars driving in the country at present.

The South Korean automaker had since focused on commercial vehicles, like buses, and after-sale services in the neighboring country through its two wholly owned subsidiaries there – Hyundai Motor Japan and Hyundai Motor Japan R&D Center.

Hyundai Motor Japan was recently renamed Hyundai Mobility Japan, underscoring the automaker’s ambitions to position itself as a leading provider of smart mobility solutions in the third largest economy in the world.

Hyundai Motor Japan R&D Center also reportedly recruited a new team of designers.

In Japan, Hyundai Motor will sell its two electric vehicle models – the Ioniq 5 crossover vehicle and the Nexo SUV hydrogen fuel cell vehicle – with a focus on online sales.

It is partnering with a local car-sharing service and also plans to adopt a marketing strategy that enables car owners to share experiences about their vehicles through a P2P platform. (Reporting by Su-jin Yoo)