Kia Motors America Shuffles Duties of Top Executives

Korean auto importer Kia Motors America is realigning the duties of its two top officers, splitting operations between its new president, W.K. Kim, and its longtime chief operating officer, W. Greg Warner, the company said Thursday.

The shuffle eliminated the position of executive director of field operations, held by Lloyd Brenner since the company began operations in 1993. Brenner was let go.

None of Kia’s 175 remaining employees will be laid off, a spokesman said. A vice president, J.S. Hwang, will relocate to the East Coast to assist with dealer development there.

Under the realignment, Kia’s service, parts and consumer affairs departments will report directly to Kim. He was sent to Kia’s North American headquarters in Irvine at the beginning of the year in what the company called a normal rotation of its Korean executives.

The company’s distribution, dealer development, marketing and product planning departments will continue reporting to Warner.

Warner, a longtime import auto industry executive, was hired by Kia in 1991 to set up its North American operations and has been executive vice president and chief operating officer ever since.

He also is a member of the Korean parent company’s corporate board of directors, one of the few American executives of an Asian car company to hold such a position.

Kia Motors America is the import, distribution and dealer development arm of Kia Motors Corp. in Seoul. The U.S. company, which recently began expanding in the Eastern United States, has dealerships in 25 states.