Korea is considered today a world economic power. The country’s
remarkable success story comes from the unparalleled desire of its founding
fathers of Korean business and industry to achieve the impossible. The story of
the Chung family and how they turned Hyundai Group from a small construction
company into a world leader in automotive business is worth looking at.
اضافة اعلان
Hyundai Group Founder Chung Ju-yung, who was born November 1915,
and passed away in March 2001, was truly a legend. He rose from poverty to
build Hyundai, Korea's largest business conglomerate, Chung is one if the
founding fathers of Korea's industrialization and economic miracle.
Chung was born in the village of Asan, located about 48km north of
the current demilitarized zone (DMZ) that now separates North and South Koreas.
He was born to a poor farming family and witnessed Japanese colonial rule
(1910-1945). As a teenager he had the responsibility of providing for his family
and 6 younger siblings. He decided to move out of his village and traveled south
working various jobs.
Chung wanted to challenge his situation and fled his home three
times. He was 16 years old the first time, and he and a friend reached the town
of Kowon and took up jobs as construction workers, where Chung realized his
passion for civil engineering. It went well for two months until his father
learned of Chung’s whereabouts and took him back.
The second time, Chung and his friend were betrayed by a stranger
who promised them jobs, but took all of their money instead. The third time was
the charm. When he was 18, he ran away and found work in construction and finally
found success.
He would go on to found his first company in 1947: the Hyundai
Engineering and Construction Company. The name “
Hyundai” means “modern times.”
Chung was always proud of his original business and very much liked to be
called a "construction man".
A success story
Chung’s passion for the automobile business started later in 1967. He
founded the Hyundai Motor Group, which is one of the largest car manufacturers
in the world today.
The company’s first factory was founded in 1968 in Ulsan. The
assembly plant is considered to be one the world’s largest integrated
automobile manufacturing facilities today, producing 1.6 million cars and
vehicles annually.
Chung, being a "construction man", made sure that Hyundai
set a record for the quickest time between breaking ground and starting
full-scale operations for any assembly plant in the world — just under six
months.
Chung’s son, Mong-koo, who
was born in 1938, quickly learned from his father and eventually became chairman
of the board and chief executive of the Hyundai Motor Group in March 1999. Hyundai
helped make South Korea the world’s fifth largest vehicle producing country.
Chung also became the first Korean indicted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in
2020. In October
2020, after a 20-year reign, Chung decided
to hand over chairmanship to
his son,
To understand Hyundai Motor
Group’s success, let’s look at the numbers. In 2000, the group had 10
affiliated companies with assets worth 34.4 trillion won ($31.14 billion). In
2020, it became Korea’s second largest conglomerate, with 54 affiliated companies
and 234.71 trillion won in assets.
The Hyundai car making story is as exciting as its founding father’s
tale. The very first car that Hyundai made was the Cortina in 1968. It was
successfully assembled by Hyundai at its Ulsan plant, in cooperation with Ford
Motor Company, as Hyundai didn’t yet have any R&D capabilities.
Following the Cortina’s initial success, Hyundai was determined to
develop its first car. The company hired George Turnbull, the former managing director
of Austin Morris at British Leyland, along with a team of engineers from
established European automakers.
Together, they designed and built the Pony, the first mass-produced
South Korean car, which was introduced to the market in December 1975.
The 1980s was a time of rapid expansion for Hyundai as the company
became an international player and started competing with traditional
automakers. The first-generation Hyundai Sonata was introduced in 1985 and in
1986, the Pony Excel became the first Hyundai model sold in the United States.
The 1990s saw Hyundai experiment with a number of electric and
hybrid vehicles. The company’s first pure electric car was the Sonata Electric
Vehicle prototype built in 1991. After conducting its first experiments with
hybrid propulsion systems in 1994, the hybrid-electric FGV-1 was unveiled at
the 1995 Seoul Motor Show. This car featured full-time electric drive
technology.
Modern Hyundai
Today, Hyundai has
six research and development centers, located in South Korea, Germany, Japan,
and India. Additionally, a center in California develops designs for the United States. Currently, the
company owns 33.88 percent of Kia Corporation, and also fully owns two marques: Genesis
Motor and electric vehicle sub-brand Ioniq. Those three brands altogether comprise the Hyundai Motor Group.
Hyundai operates the
world's largest integrated automobile manufacturing facility in Ulsan, South Korea, which has an annual production capacity of
1.6 million units.
The company employs
about 75,000 people worldwide and Hyundai vehicles are sold in 193 countries
through 5,000 dealerships and showrooms
"Cars are like national flags with wheels," Chung once
said. "If we make good cars and export them, they drive around the world,
spreading Korea's technology and level of industrialization.
To mark his miraculous journey, Chung Ju-yung’s achievements were
recorded in Korean Journalist and author Park Jung-woong’s book "Hey, Have
You Tried It? Chung Ju Yung — the Great Challenger and Master of Crisis.”
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