11/17/2016, Fountain Valley, CA
FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., November 17, 2016 – Hyundai Motor America today announced succession plans for three members of its executive team who will be retiring at the end of this year. The transitions involve:
- Executive Vice President of Customer Satisfaction Frank Ferrara. In his more than 30 years with Hyundai, Ferrara has held a number of executive positions in parts sales, service, corporate planning and customer satisfaction while directing Hyundai’s rise to one of the top quality and customer satisfaction companies in the industry. He will be succeeded by Barry Ratzlaff.
- Executive Director of Corporate Communications Chris Hosford. During his 20-year career leading the company’s communications operation, Hosford provided the voice of Hyundai through storytelling of Hyundai’s rise to one of the most respected and fastest growing auto companies. His position will be filled by Jim Trainor.
- Executive Director of Human Resources and Administration Paul Koh. In this 30-plus year career at Hyundai, leading up to his post as head of Human Resources and Administration in February 2009, Koh held a series of management positions in finance, audit and marketing operations. His successor will be Matthew Little.
“It’s been an honor to work with these three outstanding executives, each of whom has made so many contributions to Hyundai that it is impossible to list even a small percentage of them,” said President and Chief Executive Officer Dave Zuchowski. “Fortunately, each has also built a great team and I know the transition to the new leadership in the affected departments will go seamlessly.”
The changes take effect Jan. 1, 2017.
Barry Ratzlaff is a 30-year automotive veteran with roles in manufacturing, quality and product development. In his 10-plus years at Hyundai, he oversaw the company’s rapid rise in both the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS) and Customer Service Index (CSI). He has served in leadership positions in Product Quality, Service Business Development, Customer Connect and, most recently, Digital Business Planning and Connected Operations. He successfully led the deployment of Hyundai BlueLink technology and other telematics services.
Jim Trainor steps in to lead communications after nine years overseeing product communications at Hyundai and more than 30 years in automotive public relations. With Hyundai, he’s coordinated more than 30 new-vehicle introductions and launch events for the PR team.
Matthew Little has been with Hyundai for three years leading Talent Management and Training. Previously, he worked at Volkswagen Group of America where he held many positions within Volkswagen’s Captive Finance and Human Resources divisions.