Hyundai Motor Company CEO Jose Munoz marks his 100th day as the Korean automaker's first foreign head Thursday, as he looks to continue leading the brand's growth and expansion worldwide, especially in one of the company's most important markets — the United States.

As the only non-Korean CEO in the 58-year history of Hyundai Motor, Munoz, a Spanish native, has had his hands full. Earlier this month, the second Trump administration wreaked havoc on the global automotive industry by imposing 25 percent tariffs on all vehicles imported to the US.

So far, the 59-year-old has received excellent grades in the American market. Hyundai Motor posted a record-setting 203,554 vehicles sold in the first quarter of this year, up 10 percent on-year. Genesis, Hyundai Motor’s premium brand, also clocked in a record first quarter figure of 17,505 units, a 19 percent increase from the first quarter last year.

Experts and Hyundai Motor insiders touted Munoz’s knack for bringing his global-oriented business mindset to the company.

“Changes are happening depending on the political circumstances in the US,” said Lee Ho-geun, an automotive engineering professor at Daeduk University.

“Hyundai appears to have made a logical choice (in promoting Munoz to Hyundai’s CEO) to show its willingness to cope with such changes in the most adequate way … For Hyundai and Kia, the domestic market accounts for less than 20 percent and about 50 percent of their exports from Korea are going to the US. So it makes sense for (Hyundai) to empower someone who can properly and quickly respond to (the political changes in the US).”

Lee also noted that Munoz, a US citizen, is likely free of Korea’s deeply-rooted culture of placing heavy importance on school, regional and family ties. The Hyundai CEO is better positioned to run the automaker in an optimized manner, he added.

“From my perspective, Hyundai Motor Company CEO Jose Munoz has great global instincts,” said Kim Pil-su, an automotive engineering professor at Daelim University,

“(Hyundai Motor Group) Executive Chair Chung Euisun has been recruiting top global professionals for a long time such as Peter Schreyer (the group's former design chief). The decisions to get the right people in the right positions at the right time led the company to where it is now. It’s been a little over three months since Munoz took the CEO spot, but he has been active, especially in handling the automaker’s US plans.”

Kim added that Munoz will play an important role in propelling Hyundai’s standing as a top global auto brand as expectations regarding the recently promoted CEO’s capabilities are high.

A Hyundai Motor official noted that the new CEO appears to be actively seeking more communication with employees.

“(Munoz) visited the Namyang R&D Center in February, shortly after he began his CEO tenure,” said the official.

“Newly appointed CEOs went there, too, but the difference this time was that there was a town hall meeting with the employees … (Munoz) looked like he wanted to get to know the employees.”

Another Hyundai Motor official commented that the automaker’s regional offices in other countries seem to truly grasp that the company is on the global level with Munoz's promotion.

“Hyundai has been focusing on the global market, but now that Munoz is at the helm, there is a bigger atmosphere inside the company in regard to focusing more on the global stage,” said the official.

“Besides, the regional markets and offices might have had some doubts as to how serious we are about them. With a global figure at the top, I think they feel a bit closer to the headquarters in Seoul.”

Munoz officially started his role as CEO of the Korean automaker on Jan. 1.

He was named the 2025 Person of the Year by US automotive outlet MotorTrend, outranking auto moguls such as Tesla’s Elon Musk and General Motors’ Marry Barra.

Munoz joined Hyundai Motor in 2019 as global chief operating officer and CEO of the Hyundai and Genesis North American offices. Before that, he spent 15 years at Nissan, where he held chief performance officer positions for the multinational automaker’s operations in China and North America.

During Munoz’s six-year period as the head of Hyundai’s North American business, the Korean automaker’s US sales soared with 1,191,127 units sold last year — a 35 percent increase from the 880,972 units sold in 2019.

Prior to joining Nissan in 2004, Munoz worked at Citroen, Daewoo Motor and Toyota in Europe in the areas of marketing, network development and dealership for about 15 years.

In 2022, Munoz was appointed as a member of Hyundai Motor Company’s board of directors with added responsibilities to include Europe, India, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific. On top of this, he led the automaker’s global sales, service and product planning.

Munoz earned his Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from Polytechnic University of Madrid and received a Master of Business Administration from Instituto de Empresa Business School in Madrid. He has also undergone executive management programs from Cranfield School of Management in the UK and INSEAD Business School in France. Munoz is fluent in English, Spanish and French.

By Kan Hyeong-woo (hwkan@heraldcorp.com)