Word: motorizer
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Chung Mong Koo, chairman of South Korea's Hyundai Motor, carefully scrutinizes a newly designed gearshift lever for the automaker's Sonata sedan while his entire senior management team hovers around, anxiously awaiting his approval. The execs are justifiably edgy. Engineers added a plastic plate beneath the shifter to prevent spilled coffee and other flotsam from falling into the mechanism and gumming it up. It's a minor change, but no one is treating it that way, least of all Chung, a hard-nosed, detail-oriented boss with a penchant for micromanagement. ("He still makes the decision...
...architect of Hyundai's rise is Chung, who was named chairman in 1998. Although his father, Chung Ju Yung, founded Hyundai Motor in 1967, it was clear the son would not get a free ride. Shortly before his appointment, the Korean economy had been slammed by the 1997 Asian financial crisis and Hyundai was forced to lay off 25% of its staff. Complicating matters, Hyundai agreed in 1998 to acquire South Korean rival Kia Motors, which had to be assimilated. Chung had little experience with the automotive industry?he had spent most of his career managing a smorgasbord of affiliates...
There isn't much good news from General Motors these days. Its once dominant U.S. market share is slipping. Steel and labor costs are mounting. Profits are evaporating. But there's an unexpected bright spot in Asia: GM's South Korean unit, GM Daewoo Auto & Technology. In 2002, GM and its partners acquired the choicest assets of bankrupt Daewoo Motor for $440 million?and it looked like they overpaid. Daewoo's market share in Korea was shrinking and its factories were running at half their capacity. Union members tried to thwart the deal by rioting around the main factory near...
Still, some companies continue to range outside their industries. Ford Motor last week agreed to acquire San Francisco-based First Nationwide Financial, owner of the ninth-largest U.S. savings and loan, for nearly $500 million in cash. The purchase will expand Ford's credit business, which now includes financing the purchase of new cars. General Motors and Chrysler are also increasing their lending activity...
From the day General Motors began test marketing air bags in 1973, sales were flat. Car buyers declined to pay $225 for the optional safety device, and by the end of 1976 they had disappeared from auto showrooms. Now the Ford Motor Co. is trying an American air-bag comeback. Last week the carmaker said it will carry driver-side air bags as an $815 extra on four-door models of the 1986 Ford Tempo and Mercury Topaz...