Korean auto major Hyundai Motor is set to shift gears in the Indian auto mart, with a change of guards at its Indian arm. The car maker recently appointed Bo Shin Seo as MD for the sub-continent. Seo, who takes over from H W Park, was executive director (production) in India for two years.
Park, who had been in India for nine years, had become MD of Hyundai Motors India Ltd in November 2009. In his new assignment, Park will move to Korea as CFO of Kia Motors.
Seo, an engineer, has earlier worked as production head at Hyundai’s plant in Alabama, United States. He comes on board at a time when Hyundai has been facing pressure to grow sales amid a slump in auto sales in India. Despite two new launches, Hyundai’s domestic sales grew just 4.8 per cent to 373,709 units last year while exports declined by 1.9 per cent to 242,330 units.
Hyundai, whose market share declined to 15 per cent from 21 per cent in the past 21 months, plans to launch 10-15 models to regain lost ground over the next five years. With small car Eon already in place to take on best-seller Alto from Maruti Suzuki and the fluidic Verna creating ripples in the mid-size segment, it remains to be seen what surprises Seo brings to the table to shore up volumes in India.
