Hyundai Fires U.S. chief Zuchowski
#17
Lexus Fanatic
In addition to that, the Sportage, especially, IMO, is quite impressive and well-built (especially for its price range) and compares very favorably with the competition.
#18
Lead Lap
Actually, if you include Kia, Hyundai's corporate partner, the SUV range is at least fairly well covered in the U.S. market.....Sportage/Sorento and Tuscon/Santa Fe in the compact-to-medium size range, Soul in the subcompact range (although the Soul is FWD except for the electric version), and with new subcompact models on the way. Only full-size SUVs seem to be lacking, and that is a market that Ford and GM pretty much have to themselves, except for a few very expensive and low-selling models from Toyota/Lexus and some European companies.
In addition to that, the Sportage, especially, IMO, is quite impressive and well-built (especially for its price range) and compares very favorably with the competition.
In addition to that, the Sportage, especially, IMO, is quite impressive and well-built (especially for its price range) and compares very favorably with the competition.
"Clearly, Zuchowski got the message, albeit too late. Last month, he announced two new utility models — a subcompact (due in 2018) and sub-subcompact crossover — as well as a revamp of existing models. The compact Tucson will grow slightly, while the Santa Fe Sport is due to grow in size and take on a more rugged look. The larger Santa Fe will grow into an eight-passenger model and ditch its name."
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/201...times-rolling/
#19
Lexus Fanatic
Kia must be discussed independently of Hyundai in this case. They have a very unique operating structure and Zuchowski does not govern their affairs. They actually operate fairly independently. Hyundai needed something smaller than the Tucson ASAP. It is true the Sante Fe Sport and Sante Fe have the upper end covered. The plans Zuchowski laid before leaving I think will do well, shame he couldn't get the ball rolling earlier:
"Clearly, Zuchowski got the message, albeit too late. Last month, he announced two new utility models — a subcompact (due in 2018) and sub-subcompact crossover — as well as a revamp of existing models. The compact Tucson will grow slightly, while the Santa Fe Sport is due to grow in size and take on a more rugged look. The larger Santa Fe will grow into an eight-passenger model and ditch its name."
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/201...times-rolling/
"Clearly, Zuchowski got the message, albeit too late. Last month, he announced two new utility models — a subcompact (due in 2018) and sub-subcompact crossover — as well as a revamp of existing models. The compact Tucson will grow slightly, while the Santa Fe Sport is due to grow in size and take on a more rugged look. The larger Santa Fe will grow into an eight-passenger model and ditch its name."
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/201...times-rolling/
#20
It seems to be a Korean upper 'upper' management decision...looks bad in the Western world. They need to get with the times because they still have a lot going for them.
http://autoweek.com/article/people/e...radition-korea
http://autoweek.com/article/people/e...radition-korea
Hyundai U.S. chief's firing part of a year-end tradition in Korea
There is not a culture of holding onto leadership jobs for several years in the Asian country
The firing of Hyundai Motor America CEO Dave Zuchowski -- coming as it does only a few days before Christmas -- is poorly timed and reinforces the image in the U.S. that Hyundai burns through American CEOs at an alarming rate. But placed in the Korean company’s cultural context, it is not that unusual.
When I was running global PR for Hyundai Motor at corporate headquarters in Seoul (2010-2013), I discovered one charming end-of-year tradition: Each team would go around to their bosses’ offices, shake hands and wish them a happy new year. There was a sense of optimism and a looking forward to the next business year.
Then there was another year-end tradition, common to all big Korean companies, or chaebol, that could have a darker side: the “executive shuffle.”
Companies such as Samsung, Hyundai Motor and LG like to have broadly experienced executives, with a wide knowledge of company operations. The end of the year was the time for job reassignments, or executive shuffling, and even though the process was an expected part of life at Hyundai, and other chaebol, the shuffle could often come with surprises
An executive at headquarters might find out, for example, that he is being “shuffled” to Moscow, or Frankfurt, or Sao Paulo. Usually, this was for a promotion, so that part was good. But the executive may not have known about the plan until he was informed of it. And the transfer was expected to happen nearly immediately -- often within a week.
Hyundai spent the LA Auto Show talking about its new Ioniq hybrid/plug-in/electric sedan. The company is trying everything it can think of to get it into customer hands, including free ride sharing, ...
This would send families of Western executives into an uproar. Though it did not make life easy for Korean families, they were conditioned to expect it.
If an executive was being shuffled from Hyundai headquarters in Seoul to the Seoul headquarters of an affiliate company, the change could happen the same day. I left a present for one of my bosses on his desk one morning in December and I never found out if he got it -- at lunchtime, he was promoted to a top job at an affiliate company and was already gone.
Then there were the executives who were shuffled off elsewhere. Some underperforming ones would be transferred to smaller affiliates. If they did well there, they could rejoin Hyundai Motor headquarters in the future, like a big leaguer sent down to the minors to fix his swing, with the hope of making it back to "The Show."
'He is happy'
Other underperforming ones, however, were sacked, which is the same in corporations everywhere. Though in the Confucian culture of Korea, it was referred to obliquely. Colleagues would say only that a fired executive “went home.” Usually it would be added, “he is happy,” meaning he got a severance.
In the U.S. and the West, we are used to long-serving CEOs. But this is not the case in Korea. Only the family owners of the great chaebols remain in top jobs for long periods. Non-family COOs or presidents, even successful ones, rarely hold top jobs for more than four or five years.
This is partly due to the reshuffling, but also to the way in which the chaebol hire and promote their people. The chaebol typically hire college graduates (women, right out of college; men, after their nearly-year-compulsory military service) at entry-level.
There, they labor for four years. If they perform well, they are promoted to the next level, where they stay for four years (there are exceptions of those promoted sooner), and so on, spending 20 years in working-level jobs until they have the chance to be promoted to the executive ranks. Then, there are several levels, and years, until they reach a top job.
Not far from retirement
The point is, by the time a Korean salaryman reaches a top, non-family, executive job, he may be only four or five years from retirement, so there is not a culture of holding onto leadership jobs for several years, as in the West.
None of this, of course, makes things easier for Dave Zuchowski, whom I know and like. Having worked for Hyundai before winning the top job, I’m sure he went into it with open eyes, knowing the company culture.
I bet he wishes the company would have made some more SUVs for him to sell, because that’s what customers want. But I also bet he’ll land a great new gig soon.
Frank Ahrens is the author of "Seoul Man: A Memoir of Cars, Culture, Crisis, and Unexpected Hilarity Inside a Korean Corporate Titan.”
There is not a culture of holding onto leadership jobs for several years in the Asian country
The firing of Hyundai Motor America CEO Dave Zuchowski -- coming as it does only a few days before Christmas -- is poorly timed and reinforces the image in the U.S. that Hyundai burns through American CEOs at an alarming rate. But placed in the Korean company’s cultural context, it is not that unusual.
When I was running global PR for Hyundai Motor at corporate headquarters in Seoul (2010-2013), I discovered one charming end-of-year tradition: Each team would go around to their bosses’ offices, shake hands and wish them a happy new year. There was a sense of optimism and a looking forward to the next business year.
Then there was another year-end tradition, common to all big Korean companies, or chaebol, that could have a darker side: the “executive shuffle.”
Companies such as Samsung, Hyundai Motor and LG like to have broadly experienced executives, with a wide knowledge of company operations. The end of the year was the time for job reassignments, or executive shuffling, and even though the process was an expected part of life at Hyundai, and other chaebol, the shuffle could often come with surprises
An executive at headquarters might find out, for example, that he is being “shuffled” to Moscow, or Frankfurt, or Sao Paulo. Usually, this was for a promotion, so that part was good. But the executive may not have known about the plan until he was informed of it. And the transfer was expected to happen nearly immediately -- often within a week.
Hyundai spent the LA Auto Show talking about its new Ioniq hybrid/plug-in/electric sedan. The company is trying everything it can think of to get it into customer hands, including free ride sharing, ...
This would send families of Western executives into an uproar. Though it did not make life easy for Korean families, they were conditioned to expect it.
If an executive was being shuffled from Hyundai headquarters in Seoul to the Seoul headquarters of an affiliate company, the change could happen the same day. I left a present for one of my bosses on his desk one morning in December and I never found out if he got it -- at lunchtime, he was promoted to a top job at an affiliate company and was already gone.
Then there were the executives who were shuffled off elsewhere. Some underperforming ones would be transferred to smaller affiliates. If they did well there, they could rejoin Hyundai Motor headquarters in the future, like a big leaguer sent down to the minors to fix his swing, with the hope of making it back to "The Show."
'He is happy'
Other underperforming ones, however, were sacked, which is the same in corporations everywhere. Though in the Confucian culture of Korea, it was referred to obliquely. Colleagues would say only that a fired executive “went home.” Usually it would be added, “he is happy,” meaning he got a severance.
In the U.S. and the West, we are used to long-serving CEOs. But this is not the case in Korea. Only the family owners of the great chaebols remain in top jobs for long periods. Non-family COOs or presidents, even successful ones, rarely hold top jobs for more than four or five years.
This is partly due to the reshuffling, but also to the way in which the chaebol hire and promote their people. The chaebol typically hire college graduates (women, right out of college; men, after their nearly-year-compulsory military service) at entry-level.
There, they labor for four years. If they perform well, they are promoted to the next level, where they stay for four years (there are exceptions of those promoted sooner), and so on, spending 20 years in working-level jobs until they have the chance to be promoted to the executive ranks. Then, there are several levels, and years, until they reach a top job.
Not far from retirement
The point is, by the time a Korean salaryman reaches a top, non-family, executive job, he may be only four or five years from retirement, so there is not a culture of holding onto leadership jobs for several years, as in the West.
None of this, of course, makes things easier for Dave Zuchowski, whom I know and like. Having worked for Hyundai before winning the top job, I’m sure he went into it with open eyes, knowing the company culture.
I bet he wishes the company would have made some more SUVs for him to sell, because that’s what customers want. But I also bet he’ll land a great new gig soon.
Frank Ahrens is the author of "Seoul Man: A Memoir of Cars, Culture, Crisis, and Unexpected Hilarity Inside a Korean Corporate Titan.”
#21
Lexus Fanatic
The article makes a point about Korean culture being different from ours, but fails to note that Zuchowski headed the American arm of the corporation.......a branch of Western society, not Korean.
#22
Lexus Champion
But it is still a Korean company, even if it is operating in the United States. It takes quite a while for a transplanted East Asian (Japanese, Korean) company to understand, respect and accept Western culture and values. Toyota took quite a few years before appointing non-Koreans as CEOs in the USA and Canada; Hyundai may be rushing things to appoint non-Koreans as CEOs before they fully understand Western culture and values.
#23
But it is still a Korean company, even if it is operating in the United States. It takes quite a while for a transplanted East Asian (Japanese, Korean) company to understand, respect and accept Western culture and values. Toyota took quite a few years before appointing non-Koreans as CEOs in the USA and Canada; Hyundai may be rushing things to appoint non-Koreans as CEOs before they fully understand Western culture and values.
One of the things Japanese figured out (because they were there before the Koreans) is that they need to have 'Americans' as their faces of the companies. If Toyota USA management was strictly Japanese, I doubt that many would buy from them. Don't forget the time when Japanese car companies had to fight prejudice from buyers decades ago. Besides their reliability, hiring Americans was a must for them to navigate the US auto industry (Most of their first American leaders were pulled from Detroit).
Also makes me wonder about when Julie Hamp was hired to Toyota and the whole drug fiasco happened to cause her resign. I wonder if the Japanese inner management circle had anything to do with it.
http://money.cnn.com/2015/07/01/auto...odone-resigns/
#24
Lexus Fanatic
Will always be a culture clash.
One of the things Japanese figured out (because they were there before the Koreans) is that they need to have 'Americans' as their faces of the companies. If Toyota USA management was strictly Japanese, I doubt that many would buy from them. Don't forget the time when Japanese car companies had to fight prejudice from buyers decades ago. Besides their reliability, hiring Americans was a must for them to navigate the US auto industry (Most of their first American leaders were pulled from Detroit).
Also makes me wonder about when Julie Hamp was hired to Toyota and the whole drug fiasco happened to cause her resign. I wonder if the Japanese inner management circle had anything to do with it.
http://money.cnn.com/2015/07/01/auto...odone-resigns/
One of the things Japanese figured out (because they were there before the Koreans) is that they need to have 'Americans' as their faces of the companies. If Toyota USA management was strictly Japanese, I doubt that many would buy from them. Don't forget the time when Japanese car companies had to fight prejudice from buyers decades ago. Besides their reliability, hiring Americans was a must for them to navigate the US auto industry (Most of their first American leaders were pulled from Detroit).
Also makes me wonder about when Julie Hamp was hired to Toyota and the whole drug fiasco happened to cause her resign. I wonder if the Japanese inner management circle had anything to do with it.
http://money.cnn.com/2015/07/01/auto...odone-resigns/
#25
Lexus Fanatic
Though I generally support the war on drugs, I think she got a bum rap for those few weeks.....especially with all of the foolish and ignorant comments going around social media at the time about her nickname being Julie "Hemp". She didn't commit any crime......she had a signed doctor's prescription for the pain-killers, which was a valid prescription in the U.S. (I myself had a presciption for them after my knee surgery, but I ended up not using many of them, since the pain was not bad). The Japanese authorities simply did not recognize the validity of her prescription, because of a quirk in their laws. The whole incident was vastly overblown. Even the Japanese government saw that the police had made a mistake arresting her, and ordered her released after a few weeks. Unfortunately, it (unfairly) ruined her career, at least with Toyota....she ended up resigning. Where she is now, though, and what she is doing, is difficult to determine, as there is very little information on it.
Last edited by mmarshall; 12-25-16 at 06:14 PM.
#26
As Mike said, no idea where she is now, and there hasn't been any news of her taking another job elsewhere. Toyota is good for its diversity efforts, though traditional powers in Japan, a white woman becoming a director in a mostly Japanese company dominated at the top by men could be seen as threat by those inside the inner circle there.
#27
Lexus Fanatic
As Mike said, no idea where she is now, and there hasn't been any news of her taking another job elsewhere. Toyota is good for its diversity efforts, though traditional powers in Japan, a white woman becoming a director in a mostly Japanese company dominated at the top by men could be seen as threat by those inside the inner circle there.
Anyhow, we were originally talking about Zuchowski. He doesn't seem to have been involved in any kind of legal trouble. He was (apparently) just dumped either because someone in an even higher place didn't like him, or because he couldn't magically meet some numbers pulled out of a hat.
Last edited by mmarshall; 12-25-16 at 06:27 PM.
#28
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
#29
Lexus Fanatic
#30
Lexus Fanatic
I'm sure her LinkedIn hasn't been updated.
I'm sure there's some ongoing wrongful termination suit.
I'm sure there's some ongoing wrongful termination suit.