Korea¡¯s Halla Group to rebrand to HL Group timed with 60th anniversary

Halla Group, South Korea's conglomerate engaged in auto parts and construction businesses, will rebrand itself with a new corporate identity towards mobility and automated solutions.

Halla Group announced Thursday that it will change its corporate name to HL Group, representing its new mission of "Pursuing Higher Life." It also presented its new corporate identity (CI), which symbolizes a person walking in strides toward growth and challenge.

Chairman Chung Mong-won, the second son of late group founder Chung In-young, on Tuesday unveiled the new CI to the employees, pledging the company will constantly seek for new growth opportunities to make another leap forward after 60 years of being in business since its foundation in 1962. Founder Chung is the younger brother of Chung Ju-yung, the founder of Hyundai Group.

HL Group will celebrate its 60th anniversary on Oct. 1.

With the group identity change, the group's subsidiaries listed in the stock market, such as Halla Holdings, Mando, and Halla Corp., will change their names to HL Holdings, HL Mando, and HL D&I Halla, respectively. The final decision on the corporate name change will be confirmed during their shareholders' meetings in September.

The group's rebranding has been somewhat predicted since last December when its autonomous driving solutions subsidiary Klemove changed its name to HL Klemove with high growth potential. Demand for its advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) software is expected to grow strong from electronic vehicles (EVs) as the market for autonomous driving cars is set to bloom. Hyundai's Genesis is expected to release SAE Level 3-backed G90 in the second half of the year, and the driverless SAE Level 4 is being tested with the Ioniq5 through a pilot program.

In addition, the firm has bright growth potential in the European market, which regulates the ADAS software to be equipped in all cars released starting in July.

The group's core car parts making unit HL Mando¡¯s earnings contracted in 2020 when the pandemic hit the world. But it succeeded in rebounding in 2021, reporting 232.3 billion won ($175 million) in operating profit and 6.14 trillion won in sales. Its operating profit for this year will likely post 270 billion won with over 7 trillion won in sales.

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