Hyundai Capital CEO drives overseas growth

Hyundai Card and Capital CEO Ted Chung / Courtesy of Hyundai Card·Hyundai Capital

By Anna J. Park

Hyundai Card and Capital CEO Ted Chung, 59, is stepping up the company's overseas expansion, aiming to make inroads into the less saturated foreign market for further growth.

The Hyundai Motor Group's financial arm has recently inked a deal to acquire Sixt Leasing, a German auto-leasing company, by taking over a controlling stake for 155.6 million euros ($168 million). This is the first time that a Korean financial company has acquired a major global leasing company in Europe

The deal is largely in line with the Hyundai Motor Group's “Smart Mobility Initiative” global strategy ― the conglomerate's plan to put an emphasis on global automotive business trends such as on-demand, high-tech electric, and short-term leased vehicles.

Through the deal, Hyundai Capital is expected to significantly extend its advancement into the overseas market. Currently, the Korean auto-financing company operates 11 subsidiaries overseas, including in the U.S., Canada, U.K., and Brazil, with over 5,300 employees. It is the largest overseas operation for a Korean finance company.

Behind this global expansion is CEO Chung's keenness to diversify profit sources internationally.

When Chung took the helm as the leader of both Hyundai Card and Hyundai Capital in 2003, the two companies were suffering a combined operating loss of 834 billion won ($701 million). Hyundai Card in particular had only a 1.7 percent market share that year. An innovative and creative marketing strategy led by Chung is said to have been behind the then-turnaround of the company's performance. The firm was the second largest player in Korea's credit card industry in 2017.

However, the card company has seen its operating profit decline in recent years, due to decreased credit card fees and other factors. Against this backdrop, Chung has chosen to focus on strategies of digitization and overseas expansion to generate additional profits in a larger market.

In line with such strategies, Chung led the card company's acquisition of a 50 percent stake of Vietnamese consumer finance institution Finance Company Limited for Community (FCCOM) for 49 billion won ($42 million) in late October, hoping to reach further customers in the fast growing Southeast Asian markets.