Randy Parker

Randy Parker was five years old when his family came to Houston, Texas, from his home in Nuremberg, Germany. His father—a World War II Army veteran—fought in the third wave in Normandy as Allied forces liberated France. He met Parker’s mother while stationed in Germany after the war ended and remained there for many years. Despite his time in Germany, Parker considered himself a Texas native.

He attended Texas Christian University (TCU) where he played guard for the Killer Frogs basketball team during their time as Southwest Conference co-champions. Parker hoped to work for the federal government after graduation but changed aspirations after meeting a General Motors (GM) representative at a job fair. He began work as an account manager there one week after graduating in 1988.

After years of excelling in a variety of sales, marketing, and finance roles, Parker became the Director of Chevrolet’s West Region, based in San Francisco, in 2008. He held over two decades of experience with GM when the company filed for bankruptcy in 2009. After leaving GM, Parker was brought on as Vice President of Nissan’s West Region—their largest U.S. regional operation—based in Southern California. In 2015, Parker was promoted to Vice President of Nissan’s Infiniti North America where he was responsible for the company’s overall performance in Canada, the U.S., and Mexico. His family remained in California while Parker was transferred first to Tennessee and, in 2018, to Yokohama, Japan, as the Vice President of Global Light Commercial Vehicle Marketing and Sales.

Parker returned to California as Vice President of National Sales at Hyundai in 2019 and was promoted to Senior Vice President in 2021. In this role, Parker oversaw all aspects of vehicle sales in the U.S., including sales strategies, dealer relations, and market representation with the mission to grow sales and market share. His leadership and emphasis on team building contributed to Hyundai’s record-setting sales growth and recognition as a mainstream brand in the U.S. Parker was also a critical supporter of the Ioniq 5—Hyundai’s first all-electric vehicle to run on the company’s electric vehicle platform.

In 2022, Hyundai named Parker Chief Executive Officer of Hyundai Motor America. The Automotive Hall of Fame also honored him that year with the Industry Influencer Award. Parker broke barriers as one of the first African Americans to serve as CEO of a major automotive company regional market and leader of the most diverse C-suite in the automotive industry. Parker participates in many of the company’s diversity and education initiatives and encourages individuals from all backgrounds to explore the automotive industry.