Cyril Abiteboul has been promoted to president of Hyundai Motorsport amid a company restructuring, replacing outgoing leader Sean Kim.
Kim, who was installed as Hyundai Motorsport president in early 2022, will move to a role in Hyundai’s road-car division, leaving Abiteboul with a dual role of both president and team principal simultaneously.
Current Hyundai team principal Abiteboul arrived at the team in January of this year. While Hyundai scored fewer rally wins in 2023 than it did a year earlier, he successfully lured Ott Tänak back to Hyundai a year after his departure. The 2019 world champion cited Abiteboul’s leadership abilities as one of the factors in his decision to switch from M-Sport.
Till Wartenberg, the vice president of motorsport at Hyundai, pointed out that Abiteboul’s work during the 2023 season was key to the decision of installing him as the new president.
“In just twelve months, Cyril has given us a clear roadmap for improvement with an impressive strategic skill set,” said Wartenburg.
“We have benefitted from his experience and insight over the course of 2023, and he has been instrumental in bringing new vigor to Alzenau, attracting key hires such as FX Demaison and, of course, encouraging Ott Tänak to return.
“We say thank you to Sean Kim for his able stewardship over the past two years and look forward to building on this strong foundation with greater success in the future.”
