Hyundai Motor Group Appoints Vice President Song Hoseong as New President of Kia Motors

[Asia Economy Reporter Suyeon Woo] Hyundai Motor Group has promoted Song Hoseong, head of the Global Business Management Division at Kia Motors (Vice President), to the new president of Kia Motors and announced a series of executive appointments, including recruiting an interior design director for Kia Motors from outside the company.

On the 27th, Hyundai Motor Group announced that Song Hoseong, head of Kia Motors Global Business Management Division (Vice President), was promoted to president and appointed as the president in charge of Kia Motors.

Song Hoseong, New President of Kia Motors

President Song is recognized as an expert with experience in the complete vehicle value chain and global business operations, having served as head of export planning, head of the European subsidiary, and head of the Global Business Management Division. He is especially regarded as the right person to successfully lead Kia’s recently announced 'Plan S' through expanding global eco-friendly vehicle sales.

Hyundai Motor Group stated that the appointment of President Song is a leadership change aimed at concretizing the future mobility vision and growth strategy. The predecessor, Park Hanwoo, former president of Kia Motors, has been appointed as an advisor.

Additionally, on the same day, Hyundai Motor Group appointed Jochen Paesen, former Chief Interior Design Officer at Chinese electric vehicle startup NIO, as the head of Kia Motors Interior Design Division. Executive Director Paesen will establish the interior design direction and strategy for all Kia models under development, together with Karim Habib, Executive Director and head of Kia Design Center.

He has experience working on various interior design projects for global automotive brands such as NIO, German Volkswagen, and BMW. During his tenure as NIO’s Chief Interior Design Officer, the super electric vehicle model EP9, compact sport utility vehicle (SUV) electric vehicle ES8, and concept car EVE, which he participated in designing, received high praise from global media and car enthusiasts for their innovative and high-quality designs that broke conventional molds.

Jochen Paesen, New Head of Interior Design at Kia Motors

Furthermore, the group promoted Hwang Heonkyu, head of Hyundai Engineering’s Architecture Business Division (Executive Director), to Vice President, and announced the appointment and recruitment of female executives based on work performance. Yoo Ji-young, head of Hyundai Motor CS Innovation Office; Diana Kloster, head of Hyundai Color Team; Kim Yoonsoo, head of Genesis Domestic Planning Office; and Kim Euna, head of Audit Planning Team, were promoted to Executive Director. From outside the company, Kim Juri, former COO of the crowdfunding platform 'Tumblbug,' was recruited as head of Hyundai Motor Strategic Investment Analysis Team.

Hyundai Motor Group is also strengthening its competitiveness in the Chinese market by recruiting outstanding local talent. Recently, following the appointment of Xie Chaopeng (解超朋), former head of Capital Operations at Chongqing Changan Automobile, as head of MECA Business Division (Executive Director level) at Hyundai Motor Group’s Chinese holding company, the group recruited Xiang Dongping (向?平), former Executive Vice President of Volvo China, head of Sales and Marketing at Shanghai-Volkswagen, and co-founder and CMO of the emerging electric vehicle company ‘Innovate,’ as head of Beijing Hyundai Sales Division (Executive Director level).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.