News and Events

Hyundai Motor Company announced that its CEO and MD SS Kim will be replaced by Unsoo Kim from January 1, while Volkswagen Group’s MD Gurpratap Boparai has also resigned. India’s auto industry is going through a churn and has seen several top-level exits in the recent past. From Hyundai to Volkswagen, automakers have either announced departures from their top-level management or a change in their global leadership teams. South Korean auto major Hyundai Motor Company announced that its CEO and Managing Director SS Kim will be replaced by Unsoo Kim from January 1 onwards. SS Kim was the man behind the company’s electric mobility journey in India and launched the all-electric SUV Hyundai Kona in India. The company saw successful model launches like Creta, Venue, Grand i10 Nios and New i20 under him. At a time when Volkswagen Group is gearing for the India launch of Skoda Slavia, the company is faced with the resignation of its MD Gurpratap Boparai, who was responsible for the merger of the three Volkswagen Group entities -- Volkswagen India, Skoda Auto India and Volkswagen Group Sales India. The company, however, hasn’t announced Boparai’s successor. The new MD, experts say, will have to lead its sustainability endeavour and aim to increase the company’s position in the Indian market, something that the Volkswagen Group is struggling with in the last few years. Christian Cahn von Seelen will take interim charge of the Volkswagen Group’s India operations from January 1, 2022, in his capacity as chairman of Skoda Auto Volkswagen India Pvt Ltd (SAVWIPL), the company said in a statement. Boparai’s successor will have his/her hands full with the group’s INDIA 2.0 project. Japanese automaker Honda, too, saw a slew of exits. Navid Talib resigned as the head of operations, manufacturing and planning strategy after working with the company for over two decades. The company’s sales and marketing head Rajesh Goel also quit and was replaced by Yuichi Murata. Honda has a 0.5 per cent market share in a key product category like SUV and its sales figures have also constantly dwindled. This, experts believe, is the reason why most executives are choosing to move on. This is not all. Last month, Vipin Sondhi, the MD and CEO of commercial vehicle major Ashok Leyland, the flagship company of Hinduja Group, also decided to step down citing personal reasons. Dheeraj Hinduja is now the executive chairman with immediate effect and the board is yet to decide his successor. “I would like to place on record Vipin’s significant contribution in Ashok Leyland navigating the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and seeding firm actions to pursue our vision. We wish Vipin the very best in all his future endeavors. We see a revival in domestic and international markets. I am confident that our new products and soon to be introduced alternate propulsion variants will trigger growth in volume and market share shortly,” said Dheeraj Hinduja in a statement. The company’s new MD and CEO will have to oversee the Chennai-headquartered CV major’s transition to clean mobility. The company has announced plans to launch trucks in CNG and LNG version. And last but not the least, it came as a shock to the entire industry when Vinod Dasari stepped down from his role as the CEO of Royal Enfield and Executive Director of the board of Eicher Motors. B Govindarajan is now the new Executive Director. Dasari, again, cited personal reasons for his departure. At a time when the auto industry is dealing with challenges like semiconductor crisis, high raw material costs, supply issues, etc., top-management exits will hardly make it any smoother for these companies.