April 28, 2024

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Former Mercedes-Benz designer Oliver Samson (Yonhap)

Kia, South Korea's second-biggest carmaker, said Tuesday it has hired two former Mercedes-Benz and BMW designers for its operations in Europe and China in the latest move to strengthen its design capabilities.

Former Mercedes-Benz designer Oliver Samson and former BMW designer Lim Seung-mo will begin serving as head of Kia Design Center Europe and head of Kia Design Center China, respectively, on April 1, the company said in a statement.

They report to Karim Habib, executive vice president and head of Kia Global Design, and are expected to "collaborate and compete" with Kia's other regional design centers to develop the brand's next-generation designs, concepts and models, it said.

Samson began his career as exterior designer at the Hyundai and Kia European Design Center in 2003 and later worked at China's Changan Automobile and electric vehicle maker Nio, and Mercedes-Benz.

Lim, who worked for Geely Automobile and BMW, said the automobile industry is facing many dynamic changes and challenges and he will help strive to enhance Kia's design competitiveness by incorporating future values into its progressive design philosophy.

"By uniting a diverse team of talented individuals with unique perspectives, we can truly embody the philosophy behind Opposites United, better allowing us to deliver truly inspirational and impactful design," Habib said in the statement.

Taking inspiration from the contrasts found in nature and humanity, Opposites United seeks to find synergies through seemingly opposing concepts, according to Kia.

Based on five key design pillars -- bold for nature, joy for reason, power to progress, technology for life, and tension for serenity -- the design philosophy can be seen at work in the Kia EV6 and EV9, and all of the brand's upcoming vehicles.

In 2006, Kia appointed former Audi designer Peter Schreyer as its chief design officer as part of Hyundai Motor Group's efforts to strengthen its competitiveness through qualitative growth.

He was with the Korean carmaker for the following 16 years, creating distinctive models, such as the Kia K5 sedan, Soul box car and Stinger subcompact sport utility vehicle. He developed Kia's distinctive and globally recognized tiger nose grille.

Other foreign designers include Jochen Paesen who joined Kia as vice president of its interior design group in 2020 and former BMW designer John Buckingham who joined Kia as head of Kia Next Design Exterior Group in 2023. (Yonhap)