Hyundai rises to record as Chairman's son promoted

Hyundai Motor Co. rose to a record after naming Chung Eui Sun as vice chairman, paving the way for him to lead the company his grandfather founded.

Chung, the 38-year-old son of Hyundai Chairman Chung Mong Koo, will lead planning and sales, the Seoul-based automaker said in an statement on Aug. 21. Previously, he was president of affiliate Kia Motors Corp.

Like Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp., Hyundai has been dominated by a founding family during its transformation from a contract manufacturer into the world's fifth-largest automaking group. Chung, worth nearly $1 billion from his holdings in Hyundai and affiliates, is the family's only son.

"He's been trained and groomed his entire life to lead the company," said Hong Hyeon Ki, who oversees $285 million at Dongbu Asset Management Co. in Seoul including Hyundai stock. "New blood should spur growth."

Hyundai climbed 4.4 percent to 107,500 won at the close of trading in Seoul. The benchmark Kospi stock index added 2 percent. The stock has more than doubled this year.

Hyundai Motor was founded by the late Chung Ju Yung, who was a symbol of South Korea's transformation into one of the world's most successful export-based economies following the 1950-53 civil war. The automaker split off from Hyundai Group, one of the family-run conglomerates, or chaebols, that dominate Korean business in 2000.

Korean Chaebols

Chaebols were widely credited with South Korea's economic success until the Asian financial crisis, which revealed cross- shareholdings and hidden debts that forced the collapse of the Daewoo and Hanbo groups and led the nation to seek an International Monetary Fund bailout.