F&I Management & Training

Paul Philpott, the UK managing director of Kia, has been promoted to the position of chief operating officer of Kia Motors Europe.

He will be based at the brand's European headquarters in Frankfurt and will report to president Sun-Young Kim.

Philpott will fill the position vacated by Paul Willis who moved from the top job at VW in the UK to run Kia's European operations in January 2008 but quit several months later to head up VW in Ireland.

A UK replacement for Philpott is expected to be announced later this week.

Philpott joined Kia as managing director in February 2007 and has overseen the brand's growth in market share from 1.6 to 2.3 per cent. Kia is currently the seventh most valued franchise to hold in the latest
RMIF National Franchised Dealers Association Dealer Attitude survey.

Philpott takes up the position in August and will be responsible for all of Kia's pan-European operations including sales, marketing, and aftersales and will
manage relations with the company's manufacturing operations in Zilina,
Slovakia where the Cee'd and Sportage models are built.

"In the UK Paul has shown how to effectively turn around a business that was on the wrong track and his ability to motivate a dealer network to deliver an outstanding experience for Kia customers. He has achieved tremendous things in the UK," he said president Kim.

Philpott was previously commercial director of Toyota having previously spent several years with Ford.

DATED: 02.06.09

FEED: MT