Euisun Chung, the billionaire chairman of Hyundai Motor, is investing $18 billion in electric cars.

Euisun Chungexecutive chairman and CEO of Hyundai Motor, is directly entering the electric vehicle market.

Article by Catherine Wang for Forbes US – translated by Flora Lucas

In November, Hyundai Motor began construction of a dedicated electric vehicle factory at its production facility in Ulsan, an automotive city in southeastern South Korea. The construction of the new plant follows last year’s announcement of an 18 billion dollar investment in Korean electric vehicle production, with the goal of becoming a top three player in the world by 2030.

By then, the Korean automaker says it will expand its EV model lineup from 10 to 31 and its total EV production to 3.6 million units, up from less than 269,000 in 2023 (Tesla’s annual production was 1.8 million units last year).

Hyundai Motor is gaining ground in the United States, where the automaker sold more than 28,000 electric vehicles in the third quarter, surpassing Ford and General Motors, and where an electric car plant is being built in Georgia.

Euisun Chung’s father, Mong-Koo Chung, is the honorary chairman of Hyundai Motor. Both men saw their fortunes increase over the year, making father and son the fifth and tenth richest people in South Korea.

This article is part of the Forbes 2024 list of the richest people in South Korea. Full position available here.

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