Reporter's notebook Is unity the driving force behind Hyundai Motor's global leadership aims?

Hyundai Motor Group is one of the largest conglomerates here and is involved in various sectors including automobiles and other mobility fields, as well as steel, construction, defense and finance.

Its crown jewel, the automobile business, is where the group is forecast to rank as the world’s third most car sales for the second straight year in 2023, following Toyota and Volkswagen, according to data from last December from the Korea Automobile & Mobility Association.

This reporter was able to witness how the conglomerate, which has been around for just over half a century since its establishment in 1967, has achieved such remarkable growth at the group's New Year's ceremony on Jan. 3, an event to celebrate the start of 2024.

The ceremony was held at Kia's AutoLand Gwangmyeong just southwest of Seoul. This is the first of Hyundai Motor Group's dedicated electric vehicle (EV)-manufacturing factories, which will start producing EVs in the second quarter of this year. It is a place that demonstrates the group's swift response to the global automobile industry, which is increasingly focusing on electric cars.

Holding the ceremony there is in line with the 2023 New Year's opening ceremony at the group's Namyang R&D Center, their R&D hub, where it emphasized the importance of developing future technologies.

In addition to the event being held in connection with the group's future vision, the employees' unity also caught this reporter's attention.

They arrived and were seated an hour before the start of the event at 8 a.m., and gave each other good wishes for a good year and shared their hopes for the future.

The unified and cohesive appearance gave a glimpse as to why many affiliates of the Hyundai Motor Group are unified and united, clearly showing strong leadership in their respective fields both domestically and abroad.

The employees focused their attention as Chung Euisun, executive chair of the group, began his opening speech.

When the executive chair said that he could not have received the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, the same medal that his grandfather and founder of the group, Chung Ju-yung, received in 1977, without the efforts of the employees, they responded with a thunderous cheer and round of applause, congratulating him.

The ceremony also highlighted and recognized the group’s employees who are working across the world by releasing interviews such as those by Hyundai E&C employees, who are participating in the NEOM mega city project in Saudi Arabia and a Hyundai Glovis employee who is managing the shipping of the group's vehicles to the United States, sending encouragement to hard-working employees.

During the ceremony, the executive chair emphasized to the employees that "ceaseless change is the key to innovation," urging them to be leaders, pursue a life of change and prepare in advance.

Saying that he is always trying to live a life of preparedness, the executive chair said, "I will create a culture within the organization that can continue to take on new challenges without being discouraged by failure."

The larger the organization, the more difficult it is to bring its forces together and move in a single direction. However, it was abundantly clear at the ceremony that Hyundai Motor Group was united in its efforts to move this massive organization in one direction.