Its pretty clear that Korean car maker Kia really mean business in Europe as they have just announced the appointment of Paul Philpott (Kia’s current UK Managing Director) as their Chief Operating Officer for Europe.
Paul Philpott, 42, is well know in the industry, and started his career with Ford Motor Company way back in 1988, leaving after 9 years to join Toyota as General Manager for Marketing, and in 1999, he was appointed as Marketing Director for Toyota, which was followed in 2003 by appointment as Commercial Director, leaving to join Kia Motors in 2007.
Philpott was awarded the first automotive industry “Rising Stars” award in 2005.
Philpott moves to the Kia headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany during August, where he 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.
We met Paul Philpott many years ago and indeed he was an impressive young man even then and we wish him well in his new role.
