Hyundai CEO Chang Jae-hoon named co-chair of Hydrogen Council

Hyundai Motor CEO Chang Jae-hoon was named co-chairman of the Hydrogen Council.

Hyundai Motor CEO Chang Jae-hoon [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

Hyundai Motor CEO Chang Jae-hoon was named co-chairman of the Hydrogen Council, a global industry group centered on the hydrogen economy.

Chang will join incumbent co-chair Sanjiv Lamba, CEO of German gas and engineering company Linde. He will replace Kanehana Yoshinori, Chairman of the Board of Tokyo's Kawasaki Heavy Industries, whose term ends in June.

The duration of Chang's term has yet to be determined.

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung led the Hydrogen Council from January 2019 to July 2020.

Hyundai is the world's largest hydrogen carmaker with around 60 percent market share as of last year. It formed a fuel cell research and development division in 1998 and accounts for two of the most popular lines, the Nexo SUV and Xcient truck. Xcient is the world's first mass-produced hydrogen-powered truck.

Hyundai Motor plans to bolster its transition to carbon neutrality through HTWO, its dedicated hydrogen business brand launched in 2020 and further unveiled at CES 2024 this January. The company plans to offset some 3 million tons of emissions with hydrogen, annually, by 2035.

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]