HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA NAMES STEVE WILHITE CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

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Contact: Chris Hosford 714-965-3470 Cell: 714-743-8764 chosford@hmausa.com

HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA NAMES STEVE WILHITE CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Fountain Valley, Calif., August 2, 2006 – Hyundai Motor America (HMA) President and CEO, Ok Suk (Owen) Koh, today announced that Steve Wilhite has been named Chief Operating Officer for the company. Wilhite will be responsible for the company’s strategic development, sales, marketing, communications, parts and service. He will report directly to the President and CEO. “Steve’s passion for the automotive business was clear from the moment I met him and all of us at Hyundai are excited that he will be leading our sales, marketing and other operating efforts,” said Koh. “He is known for his innovative and creative marketing approaches. However, also invaluable will be both his automotive retail sales experience and non-automotive marketing background which will be an immense help in driving the growth of our brand and presence in America." “I’m thrilled with the opportunity to return to Southern California and help lead the continued development and growing success of Hyundai,” said Wilhite. “The chance to be a part of growing sales, working directly with dealers again, and capturing and expressing who and what Hyundai is becoming is a challenge I couldn’t resist.” . Wilhite joins Hyundai From Nissan Motor Company, where he was senior vice president, global marketing. Previously he served as vice president of marketing for Nissan North America. Wilhite has worked as the vice president worldwide marketing communications at Apple and as the senior marketing executive at Volkswagen of America where he led development of the “Drivers Wanted’ campaign and launch of the new Beetle. He has also served in senior management positions in the retail auto industry and began his automotive career with Ford Motor Company. Wilhite will officially join the company and assume his new assignment on August 16, 2006. He earned a master’s degree in Business Administration at the University of California at Berkeley and a bachelor’s degree in psychology at Stanford University. He is married with one daughter and one son. Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed in the U.S. by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced by more than 725 dealers throughout the nation.