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Hyundai Motor Company

Automotive manufacturingFounded 1967
Reviewed by Swet Parvadiya
Company data updated: October 2026

Founders

Who Founded Hyundai?

Chung Ju-yung · Founded 1967 · HQ today: Seoul, South Korea

Who founded Hyundai?

Hyundai was founded by Chung Ju-yung in 1967 in Seoul, South Korea. It is now led by Jose Munoz.

Founders
Chung Ju-yung
Founded
1967
Headquarters
Seoul, South Korea
Number of founders
1
Current CEO
Jose Munoz (since 2025)
Where was Hyundai founded?
Hyundai was founded in Seoul, South Korea in 1967. wikidata.org
When was Hyundai founded?
Hyundai was founded in 1967.
Who started Hyundai?
Hyundai was founded by Chung Ju-yung.
How old is Hyundai?
Hyundai is 59 years old as of 2026.

Founding Story

Chung Ju-yung was born in 1915 to a poor farming family in what is now North Korea and ran away to Seoul as a teenager. After running a rice shop and an auto repair business, he founded Hyundai Engineering and Construction in 1947, which grew on post-war reconstruction contracts. In 1967 he set up Hyundai Motor Company, which first assembled the Ford Cortina under licence. Wanting a car of its own, Hyundai hired Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro and former British Leyland executive George Turnbull, and in 1975 launched the Pony, Korea's first mass-produced domestic passenger car.

Chung Ju-yung

Co-founder 1967

Background

Chung Ju-yung grew up in poverty and had little formal education. He taught himself business and gained his early experience in construction.

Role at Hyundai Motor Company

Chung Ju-yung was a South Korean industrialist and the founder of the Hyundai group. He left the poor farming village where he grew up and in 1947 started a small civil engineering company. Reconstruction contracts in post-war Korea gave the business its start, and he expanded it into a large conglomerate, or chaebol, with operations in car manufacturing, shipbuilding and construction. Hyundai's growth followed South Korea's own rapid industrial development. Chung was known for an authoritarian style of management.

Chung Ju-yung was born in 1915 in Tongchon County.

Hyundai Motor Company: CEO & Leadership History

Full timeline →

Jose Munoz

President and Chief Executive Officer

2025 – Present

Munoz ran Hyundai's North American business and served as global COO before becoming CEO. Since 2025 he has led the response to U.S. tariffs, the $26 billion U.S. investment plan through 2028, the hybrid expansion and the 2030 target of 5.55 million sales.

Jaehoon Chang

President and Chief Executive Officer

2021 – 2024

As co-CEO, he drove record-breaking operating profits in 2023 by prioritizing high-margin SUVs and luxury Genesis models amid global supply chain shortages.

Chung Eui-sun

Executive Chair, Hyundai Motor Group (former co-CEO of Hyundai Motor)

2019 – Present

He successfully elevated Hyundai and Kia from budget alternatives into highly desirable, premium-leaning brands, capturing significant global EV market share.

Chung Mong-koo

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

1999 – 2020

Hyundai and Kia became one of the largest carmaking groups in the world under him. His son Chung Eui-sun succeeded him as chairman in 2020.

Keep researching Hyundai

Who Founded Hyundai? FAQ

Who founded Hyundai and in what year was the company established?

Chung Ju-yung founded Hyundai Engineering and Construction in 1947 and officially established Hyundai Motor Company in December 1967 in Seoul, South Korea.

What was Chung Ju-yung's humble origin and rise to become Korea's greatest industrialist?

Born into an impoverished peasant farming family in Asan (now North Korea), Chung Ju-yung ran away from home multiple times, working as a dock laborer and rice merchant before opening an auto repair shop (A-do Service) in 1940, laying the technical foundation for his automotive empire.

What famous challenge and motto did Chung Ju-yung establish for his employees?

Chung Ju-yung's most well-known question to skeptics and engineers was: 'Have you ever tried it?' (이봐, 해봤어?). This fearless 'can-do' entrepreneurial spirit drove Hyundai to construct shipyards, motor plants, and superhighways with zero prior experience.

What was the Hyundai Pony and why is it historic in global automotive history?

Launched in 1975, the Hyundai Pony was South Korea's first independently developed mass-production passenger car. Designed with Giorgetto Giugiaro and powered by a Mitsubishi powertrain, the Pony turned South Korea into an automotive exporting nation.

Who was Chung Se-yung and what was his role as the founding CEO of Hyundai Motor?

Chung Se-yung (younger brother of founder Chung Ju-yung) served as the founding President and CEO of Hyundai Motor from 1967 to 1999. Affectionately known as 'Pony Chung,' he oversaw the development of the Pony and established Hyundai's earliest export markets in Canada and the US.

What early manufacturing partnership with Ford helped launch Hyundai Motor in 1968?

In 1968, Hyundai signed a technology licensing agreement with Ford Motor Company to assemble the Ford Cortina Mk II at its Ulsan plant, providing Hyundai engineers with critical early assembly and quality inspection training.

What historic gesture of peace did Chung Ju-yung make across the Korean DMZ in 1998?

In 1998, at age 83, Chung Ju-yung personally drove a convoy of 1,001 cattle across the demilitarized zone into North Korea to aid starving villagers and open historic inter-Korean economic cooperation (Mount Kumgang tourism project).

How is the legacy of Chung Ju-yung honored across South Korea today?

Chung Ju-yung is celebrated as the foundational father of South Korea's 'Miracle on the Han River' industrial economy, commemorated through the Asan Foundation, the Asan Medical Center, and the Pony Chung Foundation.

Who founded Hyundai?

It was founded by Chung Ju-yung. He is an absolute legend in Korean history. Born to a poor peasant family in North Korea, he famously stole his father's cow to buy a train ticket to Seoul. He built Hyundai through sheer, ruthless willpower, eventually crossing the DMZ in 1998 with 1,001 cows as a massive gesture of peace to North Korea.

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Content is for informational purposes only. Not financial advice. Data sourced from SEC filings, annual reports, and public records. See our full disclaimer and methodology.