Hyundai Motor CEO named co-chair of Hydrogen Council

Chang Jae-hoon, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor Group, has been named as co-chairman of the Hydrogen Council, a global coalition of CEOs committed to speeding up hydrogen-based energy transition.

The Hydrogen Council announced Tuesday Chang's appointment to replace Yoshinori Kanehana, chairman of Japan’s Kawasaki Heavy Industries, whose term ends in June. Chang will serve the chairman role alongside Sanjiv Lamba, CEO of Linde, the US industrial gas producer.

This appointment follows in the footsteps of Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun who co-chaired the council in 2019.

Founded during the Davos Forum in 2017, the Hydrogen Council now consists of 140 companies from over 20 countries.

As the new co-chair, Chang will lead discussions on global hydrogen demand, foster collaborations with various stakeholders and cooperate closely with CEOs of member companies to accelerate the shift towards a hydrogen-based economy.

"The Hydrogen Council takes the lead of the global shift toward clean energy. I am honored to be appointed as co-chair and will strive to lead innovation with fellow hydrogen leaders," said Chang.

Hyundai Motor Group has continued efforts in hydrogen technology development since establishing its dedicated hydrogen research and development unit in 1998. The company highlighted its sustained efforts, including the independently developed fuel cell stack in 2004, the mass production of the Tucson ix35 hydroelectric car in 2013, and the launch of the hydroelectric truck Xcient in 2020.

At this year's CES technology show, Hyundai Motor announced the expansion of its existing fuel cell brand HTWO to encompass the group's hydrogen value chain business, launching the comprehensive hydrogen solution, HTWO Grid.