hyundai

Hyundai is a South Korean group of companies founded by Chung Ju-yung in 1947 as a construction company and was once South Korea's biggest conglomerate company (chaebol). The company split into five business entities on April 1, 2003 including Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, Hyundai Group, Hyundai Department Store Group and Hyundai Development Group. Hyundai was the 2nd largest Chaebol in 2004 based on total revenues.

"Hyundai" means "modernity" in Korean. It is often pronounced incorrectly as 'hun-day' in the U.S. and as 'high-oon-die' in UK and 'Hee-yun-day' in Australia. It is often mispronounced "Hyun-dai", with the "dai" pronounced phonetically, instead of "dae" (its correct pronunciation). The former was promoted as the company's official pronunciation: early U.S. advertising for the Hyundai Excel car told readers "It rhymes with Sunday". The correct Korean pronunciation, [çʌn.dɛ], has 2 syllables and sounds like 'hyun-deh' where 'hyun' rhymes with 'shun'. The exact transliteration into English from Korean (under the current system, revisions take place from time to time) should be "Hyeondae" rather than "Hyundai".

History

Before restructuring began in 2000, Hyundai's major areas of activity included shipbuilding, car manufacturing, construction, retailing, finance, and electronics. After its founder died in 2001, the component companies of Hyundai were split off into separate companies. Although divested of most of the high-profile Hyundai assets, the Hyundai Group still operates. Its most high-profile operation is Hyundai Asan, involved in numerous investment projects in North Korea. Other prominent assets include Hyundai Elevator, Hyundai Merchant Marine, Hyundai Logistics, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hyundai Corporation, Hyundai Construction and Hyundai Securities. The current CEO is Hyun Chung-eun, widow of the late chairman Chung Mong-hun. Hyundai is also known for the manufacturing of motor vehicles in several countries; the U. S. has been a source market for these cars.

Group companies

• Hyundai Logistics
• Hyundai Asan
• Hyundai Securities
• Hyundai Investment Securities
• Hyundai Life
• Hyundai Corporation
• Hyundai Elevator
• Hyundai Merchant Marine
• Hyundai Heavy Industry
• Hyundai Construction
• Hyundai Mipo Shipyard
• Hyundai Samho Heavy Industry
• Hyundai Unicorns, a professional baseball team owned by Hyundai
• Hyundai A-League, a professional football league in Australia

Former Hyundai companies

• Hynix
• Hyundai Engineering and Construction, a division of Hyundai Development Group
• Hyundai Department Store Group
• Hyundai Development Group
• Hyundai Motor Company, a division of Hyundai Kia Automotive Group

See also

• Chung Ju-yung
• Economy of South Korea
• List of Korea-related topics

External links

Main

• Hyundai Sports Club Hyundai Information
• Hyundai Group website (in Korean)

Press Release

• Hyundai Motor Company Company Profile and News Archive
• Yahoo! - Hyundai Motor Company Company Profile
• Hyundai Crisis: Its Development and Resolution (PDF file only)