Hyundai appoints former Nissan executive Jose Munoz as global COO

Hyundai Motor Company has appointed Jose Munoz as its global Chief Operating Officer. In this capacity, Muñoz will oversee global operations strategies and their implementation. His focus will be to deliver profitable growth and to improve overall performance of Hyundai Motor based on his decades of automotive and technology experience.

Munoz, who will report to Hyundai Motor Company's top leadership in Seoul, will start on May 1 and be based in Fountain Valley, California. He has also been named president and CEO of both Hyundai Motor North America and Hyundai Motor America. He will be responsible for the entire American market, including Hyundai Motor North, Central and South America, as the Head of Hyundai Motor Americas Region. Munoz is an important hire in further solidifying Hyundai’s overseas business reorganisation that was announced last year with the creation of Hyundai Motor North America, among other regional headquarters around the world.

“Jose Munoz has an impressive track record and is proven to be a visionary and motivational leader who is adept at all aspects of our business,” said Wonhee Lee, president of Hyundai Motor Company. “His decades of automotive and technology experience make him well suited for this new role as we move the company to the next step. We are looking forward to Mr Munoz joining the team, and will lean on his leadership skills and vision to achieve long-term sustainable growth and evolve into a Smart Mobility Solutions Provider.”

“I am excited to join Hyundai Motor at this vital time in its history,” said Jose Munoz. “My capabilities around delivering steady profitable growth, managing the entire supply chain, and working together with our dealer partners to find win-win solutions match up well with the opportunity here. I am eager to bring best global practices from the automobile and technology industries to my new role as COO of Hyundai Motor Company.”

Jose Munoz was most recently the Chief Performance Officer for Nissan Motor Corporation and the chairman of Nissan China. He joined Nissan in 2004 and during his 15 years at the automaker led significant growth and record sales in the regions he managed. He left the Japanese carmaker in mid-January 2019 as the scandal around the arrest of former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn grew.

Mr. Muñoz, 53, a native of Spain, earned his Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from Polytechnic University of Madrid and has an MBA from Instituto de Empresa (IE) Business School in Madrid. He has also completed executive management programs from Cranfield School of Management in the U.K. and INSEAD Business School in France. He is fluent in English, Spanish and French.