Automotive Hall of Fame honors Hyundai’s Mong-Koo Chung

MANILA: In one of the biggest honors that can be conferred by the automotive industry, Hyundai Motor Group chairman Mong-Koo Chung is set to be inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame Class of 2020, the first-ever Korean to receive such a recognition.

Mong-Koo Chung will be inducted at the 2020 Induction and Awards Ceremony at the MGM Grand Ballroom in Detroit on July 23 and will join nearly 800 business leaders who have been previously inducted since the Automotive Hall of Fame was established in 1939.

This award is one of five types of honors that is given annually to people who have contributed greatly to automotive history and development. The other four are: Industry Leader, Distinguished Service Citation, Mobility Innovator, and Young Leadership & Excellence Award.

“Induction into the Automotive Hall of Fame is reserved for individuals who have created, shaped, and changed the mobility market. These individuals have exceeded in a way that stands out from their peers – they are responsible for a step change in innovation, business operations, and impact on consumers and the public,” said Hall of Fame president Sarah Cook.

Undeniably the most prestigious and honorable award in the industry, the Automotive Hall of Fame’s past inductees have included: Ford Motor Company founder Henry Ford, American inventor Thomas Edison, founder of Mercedes-Benz Karl Benz, founder of Honda Motor Company Soichiro Honda, and Toyota Motor Corporation founder Kiichiro Toyoda. Chung previously received the Automotive Hall of Fame Distinguished Service Citation Award in 2001.

The Automotive Hall of Fame credits Chung with the success of Hyundai Motor Group. Chung’s legacy is on par with other legends of the industry who have launched and guided automotive firms to global growth and renown. Through Chung’s leadership, Hyundai Motor became Korea's largest automaker and Hyundai Motor Group became the world’s fifth-largest automotive group. Chung is noted for many remarkable accomplishments, including:

• Acquiring Kia Motors Corporation for Hyundai Motor Group
• Spearheading the growth of both companies with new plants in key regions, including United States, Europe, China, India, Brazil and Russia
• Creating a highly efficient vertically integrated business structure that produces everything from steel to vehicles

The reemergence of Kia has also been attributed to Chung business savvy and acumen. Under his leadership, both Hyundai and Kia rapidly expanded to compete head-to-head with the world’s leading automakers. As a result, Chung’s efforts affected lasting change in the global automotive landscape and the Korean economy.

Chung established a standard plant construction system that can be rapidly implemented anywhere to help assure consistent high-quality production evident in the many quality awards earned by Hyundai and Kia vehicles around the world and also created one of the world’s largest research and development centers to advance the company’s competitiveness.

Chairman Chung has also received various awards through the years including Korea Management Association’s CEO of the Year Award (1996), Business Week’s Auto CEO of the Year (2004), Automotive News’ Top Automotive CEO in Asia (2005), Van Fleet Award (2009) and named in Harvard Business Review’s “The CEO 100.”

Also Read: Kia sets new records in Europe by selling 502,845 units in 2019