One of two features for Hyundai Motors, written following a familiarization tour of Hyundai Motor's operations in Korea.
Delegates from China, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, and the Philippines, were flown in for a hectic first-hand look at the passion that drives Hyundai Motors.
It was a whirlwind tour of South Korea for the more than one hundred delegates, and revving everyone up for the company’s ambitious target of four hundred percent sales growth.
The first two days were relatively easy, but little did we know that Hyundai intended to break the speed limit as the week went on.
In Seoul, we visited both modern and ancient Korea with a visit to the "Blue House," Korea’s Presidential Palace, then to Gyeongbokgung Palace, built in 1411 during the Joseon Dynasty.
Then, it was off to shopping at Itaewon, near the US Military barracks. If you’re homesick, there’s a Philippine store and eatery right beside our embassy.
Dinner was a memorable introduction to Korean merry-making tradition, as we were introduced to Shoju, and the customary toast of "We-HaYoo," to go with our choice of grilled beef and pork.
I eat neither, so I joined what we would later call the "ASEAN" table, with other non-carnivorous South East Asians. That would come in handy later on, being the only table with various nationalities, we toasted ASEAN and Hyundai’s four hundred percent growth forecast in this market.
The Shoju we were toasting with is nasty stuff. Its effect on your sense of balance is wildly disproportionate to its alcoholic content.
Thankfully, the next morning we found ourselves on Korea’s Hyundai built bullet train zipping across the country at 300 km/h and I was able to get some sleep.
Busan is Korea’s second largest city and the country’s largest port. The Korean stuff you have gets to you through Busan. Hyundai’s cars don’t pass through Busan, but more on that later on.
Boemoso Buddhist Temple is Korea’s most beautiful. Set amidst verdant mountains, it was worth the hour long drive from Busan proper. Buddha’s birthday is celebrated on May 2nd, and the numbers of delegates going to pay homage, as opposed to visiting tourists, made me realize just how widespread the Buddhist philosophy is.
The next day would be the big day, at least from the point of view of our hosts. It was the day they would show us their pride: Ulsan, otherwise known as the city that Hyundai built.
Starting in 1947 as a civil engineering firm, Hyundai chose Ulsan, then a sparsely populated rural town, to build what would later become Hyundai Heavy Industries, which today makes the world’s largest ocean–going ships.
Hyundai Motors would follow in 1967, and soon an entire city was on the rise, built almost entirely by the company.
Hyundai has its own massive port in Ulsan, where the massive ships it’s built load its cars which get to the port on highways that it built. There’s even a Hyundai Hotel and a Hyundai Department Store.
This company really plans way ahead into the future.
At the showroom of Hyundai Heavy, there’s a scale model of an ecofriendly Hyundai acropolis, an ultra-modern city system built on a small footprint that Hyundai hopes to build a few hundred years into the future.
Hyundai Motor’s Ulsan plant is the world’s largest integrated auto manufacturing plant. In it they make all their flashy new models: The Veracruz, Santa Fe, and Tucson SUVs, the Korea-only EQUUS limousine, Grandeur and Sonata executive cars, Tuscani coupe, the Getz and Vistro small cars, as well as their popular Starex vans.
Having shown us their "town," Hyundai finally felt that it was time for us to relax and sent all of us off to Jeju.
Located just off the southern tip of the peninsula, Jeju is Korea’s Big Island.
Three times the size of Singapore, it’s where Koreans go for R&R, which plenty of local color and recreational sports. It’s also a favorite location for shooting those ubiquitous koreanovelas.
We stayed at the Haevichi Resort, a members only resort partly owned by, you guessed it, Hyundai. It’s located right on the beach used in "Stairway to Heaven," and right next to the Jeju Folk Village used in "Jewel in the Palace."
The Paradise Hotel in Jeju was unlike anything else we’ve seen in Korea.
Built to resemble a Spanish Villa, it didn’t have any of the sharp edged geometric architecture features common around Korea.
In fact, when the Filipino band started playing our favorite tunes we felt right at home.
The Bonsai garden in Jeju should not be missed. Built over thirty years by a then young man from the mainland who worked days and nights in this once remote location, the Bonsai Garden is the world’s largest, and arguably the most beautiful of its kind.
Back at the Haevichi, it was time to prepare for the culminating event, the grand Gala night (as if all the previous events had not been as grand).
Hyundai SVP SS Chang was there to deliver the closing remarks as well as a challenge to the dealers to exceed their sales targets.
Hyundai New Zealand head Heinz Weissner, a Hyundai dealer for 25 years, delivered his bit, but the highlight was when our own Marife Agudo, SVP and COO of Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. (Hyundai Philippines) asked the question that was on everyone’s mind: "What does the slogan, "40 years of Passion heading for 400" mean?"
"400 percent sales growth, of course!" exclaimed Marife.
