Uncovering the corporate growth of the Hyundai Motor Company

Business historians from the US and Europe have provided detailed account of the corporate growth of well-established multinational enterprises (MNEs) from Western countries. However, little attempt has been made to document the corporate growth of MNEs from developing economies. Consequently, the field of business history is dominated by the cases of Western firms. We aim to remedy the problem by studying the corporate development of Hyundai Motor Company (HMC), one of the most successful MNEs from the developing world. We trace the development of HMC from a domestic automobile assembler in the 1970s to a global car maker in the early 2000s and uncover the unique characteristics of HMC’s internationalization strategies.