Hyundai Motor Group names new chief for mobility division

Hyundai Motor Group said on Friday it has formed a new mobility division to launch more service models and named an outsider as its chief following his tenure with global tech giants such as Apple Inc and Microsoft.

Song Chang-hyeon will lead the newly established Transportation-as-a-Service (TaaS) division, which will oversee mobility business for Hyundai Motor Co and Kia Corp, the parent company said in a statement.

Besides working as an engineer with Apple and Microsoft, Song was the chief technology officer at South Korea's dominant web portal Naver, and also founded an autonomous transportation service startup, 42dot, which had Hyundai Motor and Kia as its early investors, according to the website.

With the new division, Hyundai Motor and Kia plan to increase alliances and cooperation with mobility companies around the globe, as the South Korean automaker group pledged to "break the paradigm of the traditional automotive industry" and turn itself from a manufacturer into a broader mobility service provider.

Hyundai Motor Group plans to streamline existing mobility services, introduce new services based on user data and explore business opportunities, the statement said.