Photo: Hyundai Motor Group
Reflecting on this, my most recent article, Hyundai, deserves some credit. Over the past several years, it has been trendy for Korean companies to tout themselves as Game Changers, but “few walking the talk.”
Hyundai is one of the few brands that aspire to be a mobility Game Changer with a significant forward-leaning commitment.
Game Changer—First Mover By Don Southerton
A Game Changer introduces something with so much added value that it sets them apart.
Game changers break beyond the traditional confines of business, dominate their niche, and become the go-to company, service, expert, or influencer.
A First Mover gains a competitive advantage by being the first to bring a new product or service to the market and establish strong brand recognition and customer loyalty.
Over the past few years, Korean companies, big and small, have sought to become Game Changers, often to break out of their secure and well-earned niches.
In the rapidly evolving global automotive industry, Hyundai Motor Group has emerged as a luminary, breaking away from its traditional role as a fast follower to become a trailblazing innovator. This transformation, marked by a bold pivot towards electric vehicles (EVs), autonomous driving technologies, and a wider range of mobility solutions, has positioned the South Korean giant at the forefront of an industry facing unprecedented disruption.
At the core of Hyundai’s success is a strategic metamorphosis. The Group’s commitment to leading innovation, exemplified by its ventures into Boston Dynamics robotics, Supernal urban air mobility, and Motional autonomous driving, has redefined its brand identity and challenged the conventional paradigms of automotive manufacturing and design in many areas.
Generally, a Fast Follower closely watches and tracks a brand leader and then quickly emulates. This eliminates many risks. Most significantly, Fast Followers can capitalize on profound economic savings that Game Changers and the First Movers must invest in new technologies, such as development costs and with investments running into the billions.
On a more practical level, fast followers wait for a concept to be proven and “bugs” to be worked out. Then, they can spare their customers from recalls, downtime, and inconvenience.
We also see Hyundai as a First Mover. In highly competitive industries like automotive, the First Mover brand leader holds an advantage and will be seen by customers as offering something new and exciting. This advantage can translate into new vehicle sales, which are the drivers for any OEM, as we have seen with Tesla.
Notwithstanding Hyundai Motor Group’s new ventures in robotics, urban air mobility, H2, and robot taxis’ autonomous driving technology, I feel Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis have set themselves apart from the competition in their e-vehicles and the ramping up of hybrid rollouts—especially in showcasing exciting new designs.
Finally, and tied to being a Game Changer, Hyundai looks to command a market-leading position as a First Mover by implementing changes faster through a ‘Software-defined Everything’ (SDx) strategy, redefining vehicles, fleets, and transportation systems with software and AI. The plan is to incorporate software development methods into the vehicle development process and mobility at a time when the industry is being disrupted.
Many feel, and justifiably, it’s a great time to be a Hyundai…