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Boxing medalist became salesperson of the year

March 31, 2015

Park Hyun-jong

By Jhoo Dong-chan

Asian Games boxing bronze medalist Park Hyun-jong, 36, was named last year’s best car dealer for his company.

Park was a second-grader in middle school when he started boxing. It took less than two years for the boxing prodigy to prove his talent at the national level.

Park rose to the top of the National Sports Festival for five straight years, from 1995 to 1999. He also competed in the lightweight division at the Bangkok Asian Games in 1998, winning a bronze medal.

After graduating from Korea National Sport University, Park suddenly quit boxing and became a car dealer at Infiniti Korea in 2006.

Park sold 110 Infiniti cars last year, averaging 9.2 cars per month. Infiniti is the luxury division of Japanese automaker Nissan, and its average price is around 50 million won ($45,000).

Thanks to Park’s effort, the sales of Infiniti Korea increased by almost 150 percent last year to 2,777 cars compared to 1,116 in 2013.

He received the salesperson of the year award at the company’s dealer award ceremony, “2015 Infiniti Inspired Night,” on Jan. 9.

Park said he was not such a gifted speaker. “As a car dealer, I have encountered various difficulties due to my poor speaking skills.

“But boxing taught me patience and tenacity. Tough training I have been through helped me a lot in the sales business,” Park said.

Park believes that a car should satisfy himself first in order to satisfy customers. “I, myself, bought an Infiniti Q50, the company’s steady sales sedan, right after a test drive,” Park said.

“I like Infiniti cars. It is nonsense to sell a car you don’t even like.”