Person to Watch:
David Zuchowski
Hyundai Motor America Inc.’s chief executive caught our eye as the South Korea-based automaker announced it will launch a stand-alone, luxury brand in January.
But Zuchowski’s plans for this year didn’t stop at Genesis Motors USA, which set up shop alongside the company’s namesake brand in Fountain Valley and began selling G80 sedans in August. He presented Hyundai’s first self-driving vehicle—a version of its IONIQ—at the Los Angeles Auto Show last month. Zuchowski also set up an IT Planning and Strategy subdivision that played a key role in the development of the car.
Autonomous IONIQ resembles its electric and hybrid counterparts, which will go on sale in January. The self-driving version has the LIDAR (light detection and ranging) system, which uses pulsed lasers to map a vehicle’s surroundings, as well as technology to help detect nearby vehicles and other objects: blind-spot sensors; a “three-camera array” that locates pedestrians, lane markings and traffic signals; and a GPS antenna to spot other cars.
“This year we are doing things a bit differently at the Hyundai booth,” Zuchowski said at the L.A. Auto Show. “Alternative propulsion systems, emerging safety technology, autonomous vehicles, and evolving consumer needs, are challenging long-established industry conventions. These dynamics are causing us to rethink what we do. Not so long ago car companies pretty much stuck to producing vehicles and tech companies focused on innovation and developing new technologies. More recently, with emergence of telematics, and connected cars, these two diverse industries have converged … Our mission has now moved well beyond providing products to transport people from point A to point B. We no longer just build vehicles, we are in the business of providing consumer mobility.”
Hyundai dealers in the U.S. sold 707,485 cars and SUVs through November, up 1.3% compared to the first 11 months of last year. That’s about the same as the national sales pace on new-vehicle sales.
Company to Watch
PacSun
We said Pacific Sunwear of California LLC was a company to watch last year as it put up its headquarters in Anaheim for sale and got a delisting warning from NASDAQ.
Indeed—the retail chain filed for bankruptcy protection in April and converted about $58 million in debt into equity for creditor Golden Gate Capital in San Francisco, which took the company private.
PacSun also secured a term loan in the amount of $30 million for the remainder of its debt, and renegotiated leases for some 445 stores. The savings will add up to about $88 million over the six-year period, of which $38.3 million is expected be realized during the first year, and another $29.2 million in the second year, according to documents filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
PacSun now operates 583 stores, or 27 less than it had before the Chapter 11 filing.
“PacSun offers consumers the most compelling and desirable mix of brands celebrating the California lifestyle,” Josh Olshansky, managing director at Golden Gate, said in a statement. “Now, with a strengthened balance sheet, reduced long-term debt and reduced annual occupancy costs, the company is well-positioned to build a stronger future and achieve long-term success.
Chief Executive Gary Schoenfeld said all of PacSun’s “branded partners—both large and small—are to be paid in full as part of our plan.”
Olshansky has been on the retailer’s board of directors since 2011, along with Neale Attenborough, an operating partner at Golden Gate, and Schoenfeld. Mike Montgomery, principal at the private equity firm, was added to the board on Sept. 2, while Brett Brewer, David Filler, Peter Starrett, Frances Philip and Michael Goldstein are no longer part of it, according to the court documents.
PacSun also appointed Zohar Ziv to replace Ernie Sibal as chief financial officer and secretary.
— Mediha DiMartino
