Exclusive: Elsworth to leave Hyundai

A DRIVING force behind Hyundai in Australia, chief operating officer John Elsworth has resigned from Hyundai Motor Co Australia (HMCA) after three years in the job to spend more time with his family.

Mr Elsworth joined the newly created position at HMCA in November 2012 after 22 years of service with GM Holden, and has played a key role at one of the leading brands in Australia, achieving three years of sales growth in an increasingly crowded and competitive marketplace.

In an interview with GoAuto today, Mr Elsworth, 46, revealed that he had been thinking about his career and personal priorities over the past couple of months, ever since the day he picked up his seven-year-old twins from school – for the first time ever – and his daughter Maddy described him being there as “my dream come true”.

“It was just a little thing that sort of triggered something in me, and whilst they are in their developmental or formative years, at seven years old, I think it’s a great time to be helping them and guiding them through the world,” he said.

“From my perspective, I could just happily keep working in the industry, or really take time out and be a better dad – and that’s what I’ve decided to do with my life.

“I’m just going to reconnect with my wife and family and I’m going to help the kids grow up.

“I’m getting a bit philosophical but I think the world’s a really troubling place and I just want to help guide my kids through it more than what you can otherwise do when you’re working full-time.” Mr Elsworth gave notice last Friday and will leave at the end of this month. He said he has “nothing lined up” in terms of working in the industry and “no plans immediate, short, mid- or long-term to be perfectly frank with you”.

As well as spending more time with family, including his first significant holiday in 25 years (“corporate life doesn’t allow you to”), Mr Elsworth plans to take up surfing (“that’s the big upside of living on the northern beaches of Sydney”) and will also look to take on board appointments at not-for-profit charitable organisations, having been involved in the ‘Hyundai Help for Kids’ foundation and other programs.

Mr Elsworth said he looked back on his period at Hyundai “really proudly” and nominated improving the brand’s position in terms of aftersales service, as measured by the influential annual JD Power Customer Service Index (CSI) Study – in which it moved from ninth to fifth among the leading mass-market brands last year – as a key achievement.

“It’s interesting to be able to punctuate the end of this chapter with outselling Holden, which is, I guess, personally it’s nice to be able to sit back and be third in the market,” he said.

“But the thing I’m personally most proud of is the steps we’ve taken to address customer service, and that’s been reflected in our JD Power results.” Asked if he could imagine ever being back at Holden at some point, Mr Elsworth said: “Probably not. I’ve moved on from Holden I’m not someone who really looks backwards.

“That was another chapter in my life, and I’m really proud of that Hyundai is another chapter and now the next one is the kids. I’ll just have to wait and see how thick this chapter is, and how long it goes for.

“I’m only 46, so there’s still plenty of years left in me. If I decide to go back to work full-time, maybe it will be in the auto industry, maybe not. But in the interim I really am focused on considering some board appointments for not-for-profit charitable organisations.

“It’s sort of daunting being unemployed but it’s equally as exciting.” From an income perspective, Mr Elsworth said “I’ll simply manage some personal investments”.

Before moving to Hyundai, Mr Elsworth had risen to executive director of sales, marketing and aftersales at GM Holden and was in line to move to an international assignment.

However, family reasons also figured in his decision to stay in Australia long-term rather than begin a so-called ISP (international service personnel) career.