Top team completed at Kia

With the appointment of a new Sales Director and a new Marketing Director, Paul Philpott, Managing Director of Kia Motors (UK) Limited has completed the restructure of the company’s top team.

Yaser Shabsogh, 41, joins as Sales Director from Ford of Britain where he was Director of Dealer Operations and Simon Hetherington, 34, previously General Manager of Vehicle Marketing at Toyota GB, takes up the role as Marketing Director.

Philpott said: “These are great additions to the team here at Kia and along with Hamish McCowan, After Sales & Logistics Director, Stephen Kitson, Communications Director and myself we now have all the skills and talent required to take the Kia brand to new levels in the UK.

“We already have great leadership from our President and CEO, Sun Young Kim, and these two appointments add the final pieces to the jigsaw that will give us a great future,” he added.

Hetherington studied at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge gaining an MA and at Reading University for a certificate of Management before joining Toyota and fulfilling a variety of roles in Sales & Marketing. He is married with one child.

Shabsogh obtained a BSc, MSc and MBA from Imperial College London before joining Ford of Britain. He spent time with Ford in the USA and the Middle East before returning to Britain to take up the role of Regional Sales Director. He has been Director of Dealer Operations since 2004. He is married with two children.

Philpott added: “The fact that Simon and Yaser are joining Kia shows how far this brand has come in attracting top people from top brands and the same is true with our products and our network.

“We now have the ideal team in place to really put some emphasis on building this brand and taking it in the direction we want to go. With a raft of exciting new products coming through over the next few years and our factory in Slovakia working at full capacity, we have the tools and I am very happy that we now have the best people to put those tools to good use.

“The focus will remain on delivering the best quality products and services to our customers, working with our dealers to ensure the best possible customer experience and enhancing the value of the Kia brand in the minds of the public. I am very confident that the right people are now in place to deliver on that promise,” he said.