Hyundai Motor Group is rebooting the leadership team of its eVTOL aircraft developer Supernal, which is behind schedule for flight testing a prototype of its four-passenger S-A2 model. On August 27, the Korean carmaker confirmed that Jaiwon Shin is stepping down as Supernal’s CEO and head of Hyundai’s Advanced Air Mobility Division on August 31.
A company statement made no reference to when it expects to start flight tests with a representative full-scale prototype. In April, when Supernal confirmed that it had conducted tethered flights with a technology demonstrator in the Mojave Desert, it indicated that untethered flights were expected to start in late May or early June.
While Hyundai determines who will replace Shin, who joined the company in 2019, Supernal’s senior director of business development will serve as interim COO. “The group plans to appoint new leadership with deep expertise in business operations to advance urban air mobility solutions and guide the organization into the next phase of growth,” the company said in a statement.
The technology demonstrator that Supernal flew at the Mojave Air & Space Port in March looks very different from the S-A2 mockup the company unveiled at the Farnborough Airshow in July 2024. Supernal has previously said that it is targeting type certification in 2028 and intends to operate the eVTOL vehicle itself in air taxi services, along with partners that could include CHC Helicopter. However, rivals including Joby and Archer now appear to be far closer to launching commercial services with their in-development aircraft.
According to Supernal, the change in leadership is happening as it “transitions from early-stage R&D to the next phase of development and business model operation.” In mid-July, the company confirmed to the SiliconValley publication that it had laid off 52 employees, representing around 10% of its workforce, in what a company spokesperson described as an “organizational realignment from the technology development phase to the product development phase of our business.”