Hankook Tire and Hankook Tire Worldwide announced that they have undergone an organizational restructuring and appointed new executives to enhance their global competitiveness. The changes will take effect on January 1, 2019.
Hankook Tire Worldwide, under CEO Hyunshick Cho, will create an IT Strategy Department to accelerate the company’s digital transformation. Hankook Tire, under president and CEO Hyunbum Cho, has been reorganized and includes a Car Life Business Headquarters to secure new growth engines and strengthen the company’s total auto services as well passenger car and TBR tire sales. It will also create further synergies by expanding the company’s business into the automotive maintenance, repair and related parts markets through import car dealer business.
Globally, Hankook Tire will establish overseas branches in Austria, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam as well as a regional head office in the Asia-Pacific, Africa and Middle East region. It will also establish offices in Taipei (Taiwan) and Belgrade (Serbia), creating a basis for a balanced regional growth, the company says.
Hankook’s production and engineering office will add a new Future Technology Development Team to address global digital trends and new technologies. The team will also be responsible for strengthening the company’s R&D efforts to better encourage collaboration between the company’s divisions.
Based on the organizational restructuring, three senior vice presidents and 11 vice presidents have also been promoted. Hankook has not publically named the 11 vice presidents.
- Jeongrock Yoon, who has been promoted to a senior vice president, will focus on the production efficiency of Hankook’s Daejeon plant. Yoon has experience in plant construction and production stabilization, having served as a plant managing director at Hankook’s Hungary plant, Geumsan plant and the Tennessee plant.
- Senior vice president Hyunjun Cho will become the company’s global marketing specialist responsible for the company’s tire business for overseas new cars. Cho is also tasked with boosting the brand’s value by expanding the supply of global premium new car tires.
- Seonghak Hwang, named senior vice president, will be responsible for maximizing the synergies between R&D and manufacturing. Hwang worked as managing director of Hankook’s Jiaxing plant and was the head of the OE development team at the company’s Chinese headquarter. He will become the plant manager of the Hungary plant, which is the outpost of the European market, and focus more on the steady flow of tires to the global premium new car supply and replacement market, in line with the company’s continued growth in the European market.
- Seyoul Ryu will become head of the IT Strategy Department. Ryu had worked as an executive director of Hyundai AutoEver ICT business division and as a general manager of SAP KOREA. Ryu is an ERP specialist with experience in innovation/PI projects. Ryu is tasked with leading the group’s entire digital innovation.
Hankook Tire and Hankook Tire Worldwide expect to further strengthen its position as a global premium brand through the reorganization of its group structure and regular appointments in 2019, thereby growing as an innovative company with global competitiveness.
