Hyundai makes Kia’s Peter Schreyer Hyundai design guru too

The newly appointed Kia President, Peter Schreyer, has now been made Hyundai President in charge of design too.

Peter Schreyer’s success in making Kia a real design force led to him being appointed a Kia President at the end of 2012, handsome reward for the changes he’s wrought at Kia since leaving VW, turning Kia’s range of cars from stodgy to convincing in a few short years.

But Kia is the junior partner in the Hyundai-Kia business, so Hyundai are obviously not totally thrilled that Kia managed to snaffle a designer who’s eye manages to so convincingly hit the Zeitgeist firmly on the head. But they’ve come up with a pragmatic solution.

Rather than taking Peter Schreyer away from Kia’s grasp they’ve taken the  logical step of appointing Schreyer as President in charge of design at Hyundai too so they can benefit directly from the man’s design vision.

Woong-Chul Yang, Vice Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group’s R&D Centre in Korea, said:

Strengthening our fundamentals, especially in the area of design, is imperative to secure long-term competitiveness.

Design is not just the most visible aspect of the car, but it’s an area customers have a strong emotional connection to. It is at the centre of our efforts to enhance our brand value.”

Mr Schreyer brings a wealth of experience in design from the global auto industry and has a deep understanding of the Hyundai Motor Group. These valuable qualities will help build the foundation needed to make Hyundai and Kia leading global top automakers.

With both Hyundai and Kia focusing on brand strength rather than just driving more sales, Schreyer’s appointment as design head for both companies is a sensible move.