New men in at Hyundai

Hyundai Heavy Industries Europe has appointed Alain Worp as managing director, while KY Kong has taken the position of chief operating officer (COO) of Hyundai Construction Equipment.

Worp has been with Hyundai for 13 years and has held a number of positions within the sales department, including director of construction equipment sales. For the time being, Worp will cover both roles.

Kong takes over as COO of the Hyundai Construction Equipment division from SG Rhee, who is retiring.

Working for Hyundai for 30 years, Kong’s roles within the company have included head of global forklift sales and head of production.

He said, “Technology, quality, marketing and HR (human resources) are the key drivers for sustainable growth in our business.

“I am very confident that by focusing on these four pillars we will deliver great value to our customers, grow our market share, and achieve our goal of becoming a global top-three construction equipment manufacturer and a top-ten material handling equipment manufacturer.”

In Europe, Hyundai Heavy Industries Europe predicts ending 2016 with 5% growth compared to 2015. It said this result would mean that Hyundai had shown rising market shares for the seventh consecutive year – in growing sales numbers and/or an increase in turnover.

Worp said, “The overall market outlook in Europe next year is not a negative one. Based on today’s knowledge we expect more or less a similar overall market growth as we have seen this year. Therefore, Hyundai Heavy Industries Europe should see further growth.

“However, due to the slow market conditions outside of Europe, we also expect that in 2017 Europe will be the region where all manufacturers will try to secure their business volumes and compensate for their slow sales elsewhere. This in turn will mean that business will once again be tough and challenging.”

Worp succeeds JC Jung, who has returned to Korea to the position of chief officer of the forklift division within Hyundai Construction Equipment.