Hyundai says goodbye to veteran Karl Hell after retirement, HYUNDAI Motor Deutschland GmbH, story

• Director of Hyundai Aftersales, with the company since 2007
• Hell built a service area and developed service strategies
• Good cooperation with Hyundai employees and dealers

Just leaving like that is impossible for Karl Hell. The Director of Aftersales at Hyundai Motor Deutschland GmbH, who will hand over the baton to his successor Jens Uwe Dietz in April, has done what he has been doing at Hyundai since 2007: He has prepared for the rapid changes of the future in the sales area taken over. the service of. “Our plans are ready by 2032. We have developed all the concepts,” says the 62-year-old man about his location, which he will soon sadly leave.

In 2005, the Franconian native took over the after-sales department of Schwabengarage Stuttgart AG under the umbrella of the Emil Frey Group, which was the majority owner of Hyundai Motor Deutschland GmbH until January 1, 2012. Back then there was no “normal customer service .Warranties and customer complaints were addressed, but normal after-sales business was not,” recalls Hell.

450 page long service strategy
Hell sat down to work and wrote the concept. The “Fit for the Future” service strategy consisted of approximately 450 pages, which were implemented “step by step” for the sales area from 2009 to 2017.

In the first two years, however, the individual wheels were not well connected. Hell still gives his thanks today for the trust that was placed in him despite the difficult beginning. And the combination of light and Korea worked well. On the one hand, there is an experienced expert who works with foresight and strategy – on the other hand, there is a Korean company that implements decisions made quickly.

Have fun with the changes
2009 then became a turning point and started the next success story, which culminated in the new 600-page “Service 4.0” strategy in 2017. In addition to the comprehensive introduction of Hyundai’s workshop systems, including digitalization, process optimization to increase efficiency in the workshop is a high priority – also from the point of view of electromobility. “Electromobility means less service business,” says Hell, pointing out that electric vehicles require fewer parts than vehicles with combustion engines. In electromobility, other business areas related to cars are opening up, for example with wall boxes or charging cables. In general, the world of services will change completely, says Hell.

Family ahead from the end of April
Despite these changes, there was one constant for Karl Hell that crowned his joy in his career. Hell has enjoyed mutual agreement with business partners and cooperation with the trade association for many years, as well as cooperation with the team at Hyundai Motor Germany. “The two aspects of cooperation between business and workers have been important positions for me in recent years,” says Hell

Hell will now release the line at the end of April when he will hand over the sales area to his successor. After all, family comes first. “I owe it to my family because I wasn’t home for many years,” says Hell about the new phase of life with his wife, children and grandchildren. But the family will not find any idleness either. “Two years ago I started a book and wrote everything I wanted to do. “I would have to be 100 years old before I realized all the projects,” says Hell.