Hyundai Motor India appoints B.S.Seo as new MD

Hyundai Motor India has appointed Bo Shin Seo as the new managing director of the company. Seo was earlier the executive director, production, for two years and takes over the reins from Han Woo Park. “I look forward to taking Hyundai Motor India to newer heights and work closely with the Hyundai family,” said Seo. An engineer by training, Seo has been Hyundai’s head of production at the Alabama plant in the USA.

Park returns to Korea as CFO of Kia Motors. “In my nine-year long association with HMIL, the company has provided me with immense learning. I am confident that HMIL will go from strength to strength under Seo’s leadership,” said Park.

Hyundai Motor India is the second largest car maker in the country and produces eight passenger vehicles – the Eon, Santro, i10, i20, Accent, Verna, Sonata and Santa Fe. The company has been the number one exporter in the country for six years consecutively and has its manufacturing facility near Chennai and an R&D centre in Hyderabad. Despite the slowdown in 2011, the car maker sold over 3.70 lakh units in the domestic market growing to 4.8 percent and over 2.42 lakh units overseas marking a 1.9 percent growth in exports as compared to 2010. However, in February 2012, the car maker recorded a dip in exports by 22.9 percent with just 15,050 units sold compared to February 2011.

The much-anticipated small car offering from Hyundai, the Eon won a number of awards including the ‘2011 Entry-Level Hatchback of the Year’ in the ZigWheels Car and Bike of the Year Awards