Kia hires father of VW New Beetle as design chief

[rsnald]

Kia hires father of VW New Beetle as design chief


Reuters
Last updated 05:19pm (Mla time) 07/31/2006

FRANKFURT-- The German designer who shaped Volkswagen AG's New Beetle and the Audi TT sports car will join South Korea's Kia Motors Corp. as its global head of design, Kia said on Monday.

Peter Schreyer, 53, will add pizzazz to a company now known primarily for its low-cost and high-quality cars.

"Mr. Schreyer´s appointment will complement Kia´s significantly increasing emphasis on automobile design and support the ongoing regeneration of its model range," a company statement said.

Schreyer starts the new job on Sept. 1. He will oversee Kia's regional design centres in Frankfurt, Los Angeles and Tokyo as well as the flagship Namyang Design Center in Korea.

He has headed the Volkswagen group's advanced design operations since last year, having been chief designer at VW's premium arm Audi from 1994 to 2002 and at Volkswagen from 2002 to 2005.

ano kaya maging impact nito sa Kia?

[theveed]

VW looking Kias... hmmm

[Monseratto]

Korean cars are known for their rather unappealing appearance. Best examples are the Ssangyong stable and Kia older RIO. THey finally notice that customers aren't always looking at the price tag.

[mikey177]

The good looks of their cars won't have much effect if they don't understand the balance of supply and demand in a consumer market. They could've cornered the market with the Picanto since they came out first, but they ended up pissing off a lot of potential buyers with the long waiting time once the initial stocks were gone. Ngayon naman yung 2006 na Sedona na pampalit dapat sa current model na binili ng maraming buyers nung 2002 pa, next year pa siguro ilalabas.

Good looks alone don't sell cars. Reliability, solid after sales support and an extensive service network are needed too.

[nugundam93]

at least they're taking one step in the right direction...better-looking (hopefully) models. :D