Hyundai Loses Top American Executive--Again
For the second time in less than a year, Hyundai Motor America Inc. has lost its top American official in what industry insiders say is an ongoing power struggle between the company’s U.S. headquarters and corporate offices in South Korea.
Robert Parker, Hyundai’s senior vice president for sales and marketing, resigned abruptly Tuesday, just 11 months after taking the No. 2 post. Parker was not available for comment and Hyundai officials did not disclose the reason for his resignation.
But Hyundai has been in turmoil for some time. The company has been hurt at home by South Korea’s economic crisis and has launched a review of its overseas operations with an eye to cutting costs.
In the U.S., that has translated so far into two sets of layoffs in December and January that cut 64 jobs from Hyundai Motor America’s corporate payroll, equal to about 11% of its total domestic employment.
“Being in management at Hyundai Motor America at this time is an awfully tough job, especially with the turmoil in the Korean economy and the difficulty Hyundai is having getting sales in the U.S.,” said industry consultant George Peterson, president of AutoPacific Inc. in Santa Ana. “Parker’s position is a hot seat.”
Industry insiders say Hyundai’s corporate restructuring is expected to continue. More payroll cuts and executive shuffling can be expected, sources say, as the company tries to get a grip on a market that has slipped away from it since the heady late 1980s, when its Excel economy car set national sales records.
Parker’s departure might also have been hastened by just-released January sales figures that show rival Kia Motors America, based in Irvine, exceeding Hyundai’s monthly total even though Kia has about 100 fewer dealerships around the country.
Hyundai sold 6,426 cars in the U.S. last month, compared to 7,197 for Kia. Parker, as head of sales and marketing, probably took the blame for Hyundai’s weak showing.
The company has been hard on top executives: Parker was hired when H. Doug Mazza retired early last year as Hyundai’s fourth and longest-serving chief operating officer in a decade.
Industry analysts say decision-making power at Hyundai Motor America remained in the hands of the top Korean officials. The home office in Seoul regularly overruled U.S. executives, including its own hand-picked HMA president--a post held for the past year by longtime Hyundai veteran M.H. “Mark” Juhn.
Former Hyundai managers say company officials in Seoul have long ignored advice from their U.S. executives on how to approach the highly competitive American automobile market. Top managers like Parker burn out because of the never-ending tension.
Hyundai spokesman Chris Hosford said Tuesday that the company has retained a major executive recruiting firm to handle a search for Parker’s replacement.
He declined to comment on a report from one well-placed industry insider that Juhn probably will be transferred back to Seoul soon and that Hyundai might be looking to end the tug-and-pull between Fountain Valley and Seoul by hiring an experienced U.S. auto industry executive to serve as the company’s first non-Korean president here.
* UNION STRIFE
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