Renault Korea CEO Stephane Deblaise (Renault Korea)

Renault Korea CEO Stephane Deblaise has been awarded the Industrial Service Medal from the Korean government in recognition of his leadership in successfully launching the Grand Koleos, the French automaker's new sports utility vehicle codenamed Aurora 1.

According to Renault Korea on Wednesday, Deblaise was selected as the recipient of the national award during the 2024 Foreign Company Day hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy at the Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas the previous day.

Renault Korea said the honor underscores its CEO's commitment to lay out an electrification strategy here through the Aurora Project, which plans to invest 1.5 trillion won ($1.07 billion) through 2027.

According to the automaker, Deblaise led a 74.8 percent on-year growth last year after he became the CEO of Renault Korea in March 2022, while the brand exported almost 100,000 vehicles to Europe during the same period.

Renault Korea debuted the Grand Koleos at the 2024 Busan Mobility Show held at Bexco in June this year, the brand's first new model in four years. After the company officially began selling the SUV in September, the accumulated number of local orders has surpassed 25,000 and the automaker has rolled out about 10,000 units to date.

The company said it is considering exporting the Grand Koleos to overseas markets including Latin America and the Middle East in the future.