TITLE: Chief Marketing Officer, Vice President Marketing and Product

COMPANY: Hyundai Motor Europe

BASED: Offenbach, Germany

AGE: 58

NATIONALITY: German

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

Andreas-Christoph Hofmann joined Hyundai Motor Europe in November 2017 in his current position. He started his career in R&D at Honda in 1989, working in Germany and Japan. He then held product marketing and brand management roles at Audi from 1991-95, and from1995-97 he worked at Mercedes-Benz/Swatch joint venture Micro Compact Car, where he was product manager for the first generation of Smart cars. He then returned to Audi in 1997 before moving in 2002 to BMW, where his latest position was Vice President Retail Business Development for the BMW and Mini brands. Hofmann holds a degree in commerce and marketing from Munich University of Applied Sciences.

REASON FOR WINNING

The Hyundai Group has been on an upward path in Europe’s ultracompetitive market, taking share from domestic manufacturers with a lineup of sporty, technologically advanced and affordable cars under the Hyundai and Kia brands. The South Korean automaker has just passed BMW Group to become the fourth-best-selling automaker in Europe, behind VW Group, Stellantis and Renault Group. Andreas-Christoph Hofmann, a veteran of the German premium brands, has been a big part of that growth since joining Hyundai Europe in 2017 as head of marketing and product.

Now, Hofmann is overseeing Hyundai’s boldest move yet in Europe, as it seeks to move from a value-for-money brand to a tech-focused one: launching Ioniq, an upscale subbrand for battery electric vehicles that will help to slash CO2 for the South Korean group as well as moving Hyundai’s entire brand positioning upscale. The debut model, the Ioniq 5 midsize hatchback, has an advanced exterior and interior design and state-of-the-art technical specs, including an 800-volt electric architecture today rivaled only by Porsche.