Global tire manufacturer Hankook Tire has announced organizational restructuring as it enters 2019.
To support its goal of becoming a global top-tier company through enhancing global competitiveness, Hankook Tire has announced a number of executive appointments. Its restructuring strategy includes plans for global expansion, establishment of Car Life Business Headquarters, development of an IT Strategy Department and creation of Future Technology Development Team.
As a result, three senior vice presidents and 11 vice presidents received promotions, effective Jan. 1, 2019.
In terms of global expansion, Hankook Tire will expand overseas, with branches in Austria, Indonesia, UAE and Vietnam, and establish a regional head office in the Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Middle East regions. It will also open offices in Taipei, Taiwan and Belgrade, Serbia, creating a basis for balanced regional growth.
Hankook’s internal reorganization includes the following:
President and CEO Hyunbum Cho will spearhead the establishment of a Car Life Business Headquarters to secure new growth engines, strengthening the provision of total automobile services as well as the sale of tires for passenger cars and trucks. This will create further synergies between automotive maintenance, repair and related parts through the import car dealer business.
CEO Hyunshick Cho plans to create an IT Strategy Department to accelerate digital transformation such as a group IT policy to function as a global company and to innovate corporate structure.
The Production & Engineering Staff Office will strengthen the organization by creating a Future Technology Development Team that can cope with global digital trends and new technologies, while also strengthening quality and R&D organization to cement the collaboration between each division.
Jeongrock Yoon, who has been promoted to a senior vice president, will focus on the production efficiency of the Daejeon plant, implementing his expertise in plant efficiency as the former plant managing director of the Hungary plant, Geumsan plant and the Tennessee plant.
Senior Vice President Hyunjun Cho plans to boost the premium brand value by expanding the supply of global premium new car tires, leveraging his knowledge as a global marketing specialist.
Seonghak Hwang, the senior vice president who had worked as managing director of the Jiaxing plant and the head of the OE development team at the Chinese headquarters, is expected to maximize the synergy between R&D and manufacturing. In particular, as the plant manager of the Hungary plant, which is the outpost of the European market, Hwang will focus more on the steady provision of tires to the global premium new car supply and replacement market, in line with the company’s continued growth in the European market.
Hankook Tire also appointed Seyoul Ryu, who had worked as an executive director of Hyundai AutoEver ICT business division and as a general manager of SAP KOREA, as head of the IT Strategy Department. Ryu is an ERP specialist based on various innovation/PI projects and he will lead the fourth industrial revolution and the group’s entire digital innovation.
Hankook Tire expects 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.
2019 Promotions include:
- Senior Vice President Jeongrock Yoon, Plant Managing Director of Daejeon Plant, Production & Engineering Staff Office
- Hyunjun Cho, Division Director of OE Division
- Seonghak Hwang, Plant Managing Director of Hungary Plant, Europe Headquarters
- Seyoul Ryu, Head of IT Strategy Department, Hankook Tire Worldwide
- Vice President Gangseung Lee, Department Director of Marketing & Sales Department, Europe Headquarters
- Moonwha Hong, Department Director of OE Development Department, R&D Staff Office
- Jinyoung Lee, Product Planning Team Manager, Marketing Division
- Jaeheon Lim, Department Director of Test Department, R&D Staff Office
- Taeseok Moon, Department Director of Fleet Account Sales Department, Car Life Business Headquarters
- Seunghyeon Kang, Department Director of Customer Quality Assurance Department, Quality Division
- Dongmyung Park, Quality Technology Team Manager, Tennessee Plant, America Headquarters
- Youngsu Kim, Europe Motorsports Team Manager, Europe Headquarters
- Intae Choi, Corporate Strategy & Innovation Team Manager, Corporate Strategy Planning Division
- Muntae Bak, Retail Digital Platform Team Manager, Retail Business Department
- Changhwan Kang, Material Research Team 1, R&D Staff Office
- Affiliate Senior Vice President Byeongwoo Jeon, MK Technology
- Vice President Donghyun Yu, AtlasBX
- Vice President Sungyong Bae, AtlasBX
