Six months into the job, Sanho Shin has planted his flag on an all-new hydraulic system and an €8.7 billion growth target as he sets out the strategy shaping his first spell as Hyundai Construction Equipment Europe’s CEO
Every new CEO chooses a moment to plant their flag. For Sanho Shin, who took over Hyundai Construction Equipment Europe at the end of last year, that pivotal moment came just six months into the job, across two days and two countries.
At Hyundai’s European headquarters in Belgium, Shin introduced the Next-Generation excavator range, the HX230, HX260 and HX300, to the assembled press, before the machines themselves took to the stage in a theatrical reveal complete with synchronised lights, smoke and pulsing music. The following morning, under an unseasonably fierce spring sun, the action moved across the border to Maastricht, a Dutch city better known for treaties than tracked machines, where the next-generation excavators were waiting at the demo ground to be seen and operated up close. It was, by any measure, a confident and memorable opening statement.
Not just a model change
“The first thing is having a successful launch of our Next-Generation excavators,” says Shin, when asked about his priorities since taking on the role. “This isn’t a simple launch. This is a turning point in our history because we have all new hydraulics, which are at the core of the functioning of construction equipment.”
The defining feature of the new range is its Full Electrohydraulic (FEH) system, which replaces mechanical pilot lines with electric joysticks and electric pump control. Flow is managed by EPOS, Hyundai’s Electric Power Optimising System, which the company says reduces hydraulic loss and sharpens both response and accuracy at the controls. It is a system that can be tuned far more readily to operator preference and application than the architecture it replaces, and it sits alongside efficiency gains at up to 7% on fuel and as much as 30% on AdBlue against the outgoing A-series.
The shift is also a deliberate bet on where Hyundai believes the competitive frontier in this segment now sits – not on horsepower, not on bucket size, but on the precision, responsiveness and configurability the hydraulic system delivers to the operator. For an OEM whose heavy excavator business is already well established in Europe, it is the kind of foundational change that sets the technical baseline for the machines that follow.
The continent is where the rollout begins, but it is not where it ends. “Successfully launching the range in Europe also means success worldwide,” says Shin. “Once we complete this launch in Europe, other regions such as the USA, will adopt these products.”
Closing the gap
That confidence in Europe is grounded in Shin’s experience as he is no stranger to the European market. He moved to the region in 2021, spending four years in market analysis and sales strategy before taking the CEO role, and he has a clear-eyed view of where Hyundai’s strengths sit and where it still has room to grow.
The Next-Generation excavators are set to strengthen Hyundai’s position in the heavy segment, where the company is already an established player. Its compact range is doing the same lower down: the skid steer and compact track loader, recently introduced to Southern Europe, along with a compact wheel loader due next year, are all part of a deliberate push from the OEM to broaden the offering.
Filling out the lineup is equally part of the agenda. “Personally, I believe there are still missing machines in our portfolio. We’re yet to have 10-tonne crawler excavators and 14-tonne reduced tail-swing wheel excavators.” The 14-tonne reduced-tail-swing wheel excavator is in development for a 2028 launch.
Shin, however, is realistic about the timeline. “The construction equipment industry is not easy. We can focus on introducing new machines and technologies but the industry changes slowly.”
The plan
The slow pace of the market makes the company’s growth ambition all the more striking. Hyundai is targeting €8.7 billion in global revenue by 2030, against an expected €5.8 billion this year – a 12% compound annual growth rate Shin acknowledges is challenging but argues is underpinned by a clear and well-thought-out plan. Europe is already running ahead of that figure, posting a 40% year-on-year growth rate for the first six months of the year.
“From a geographical point of view, the UK is one of the markets that we will grow very fast,” says Shin. Southern Europe is another priority, supported by the recent launch of skid steer and compact track loaders into a region where Shin says compact machines typically dominate, while the Nordic markets are where Shin anticipates the new hydraulic system will most clearly demonstrate its value.
The longer horizon
If the Next-Generation excavator is the launch Shin has chosen to define his early tenure, alternative powertrains and autonomy are the bets that will define what comes after it.
The conversation around electrification has cooled industry-wide, and Shin believes he knows why. “Compared to two or three years ago, the interest in electrified machines has lessened because electrification is still driven by government initiatives in the construction equipment industry. When there is a government policy or interest change, it fluctuates.”
“This is not a simple launch. This is a turning point in our history because we have entirely new hydraulics, which are at the core of the functioning of construction equipment”
Norway is pushing harder on electrification, he says, while the Netherlands is seeing subsidies reduced, with a visible knock-on effect on demand. Even so, three additional electrified machines are scheduled for launch within the next two years spanning mini, midsize crawler and wheeled excavators.
Hydrogen, by contrast, is a longer game. “We’re not giving up on hydrogen power as an alternative,” says Shin. “But I would say it’s still in the concept and prototype stage. When are we going to launch? It depends how the market and infrastructure move.”
Autonomy is, in some respects, the most advanced of the three. Hyundai’s investment in the field is older than the current industry conversation might suggest. Several safety functions developed for fully autonomous applications are already being adopted into the Next-Generation excavator range. “For our engineering team, it was very essential to have this technology because eventually the machine will operate as unmanned.”
Over to the market
Shin called the launch a turning point, and the description fits. The next-generation excavator is the clearest signal yet of where he intends to take the business – a machine built around the FEH system and tuned to meet what European operators are increasingly asking for in precision, responsiveness and configurability. It also sets the technical baseline for the models that will follow it, both across the wider portfolio and into other regions as the rollout extends beyond Europe. The growth targets, alternative powertrains and autonomy plans will take shape in the years ahead. For now, Hyundai has set out its direction with conviction.
This article first appeared in the July/August issue of iVT
