More non-Korean chiefs arrive in Korea as import auto market heats up


As Korea’s import car market grows, global automakers are increasingly opting for foreign chief executives for their Korean units.

When the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association was established 17 years ago, the import car sector had only one foreign CEO.

Of the 16 member firms of KAIDA, seven now have foreign CEOs. They are Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Chrysler, Jaguar/Land Rover, Stuttgart Sports Cars (or Porsche Korea), Nissan and Toyota.

Last month, Briton David McIntyre was appointed CEO of Jaguar/Land Rover Korea, taking over from Korean Lee Dong-hoon.

Mercedes-Benz, in contrast to its premium-luxury segment rival BMW Group, has continued to name foreign chiefs of its Korean unit over the past few years.

In February, Mercedes-Benz designated Thomas Urbach as the new president and CEO of its Korea office, as the successor to former chief Harald Behrend.

The 49-year-old German executive brings more than 23 years of experience in the global automotive industry. He joined Daimler, the parent group of Mercedes-Benz, in 1989.

Urbach held several management positions within the van business of the German sales organization before he became a vice president of Mercedes-Benz Cars for Daimler South East Asia in Singapore in 2003.

“With his experience in sales and marketing of Mercedes-Benz Cars, as well as on the commercial vehicle side, we are confident that Thomas Urbach will contribute to the further growth of Mercedes-Benz on the Korean market,” said Joachim Schmidt, an executive vice president of its German headquarters.

Urbach served as vice president of sales and marketing vans since 2006 from the company’s headquarters in Berlin.

The other five non-Korean chiefs are Audi Korea’s Trevor Hill, Chrysler Korea’s Greg Phillips, Stuttgart Sportscars’ Michael Vetter, Nissan Korea’s Kenji Naito and Toyota Korea’s Hisao Nakabayasi.

“Mostly, foreign CEOs have competitiveness as they secured broad communication channels in the overseas market,” an import car industry executive said.

“Compared to Korean chiefs, they have merits in terms of closely coordinating with top decision-makers at headquarters on sales strategies and promptly introducing new vehicle models,” he said.

When a global carmaker sees its vehicle sales in a regional market top 3,000 units per annum, it usually pushes for setting up a local corporation and dispatches an executive, the executive said.

Mercedes-Benz Korea sold 18,534 vehicles last year, the second-highest for a foreign automaker after BMW. It has about 20 percent of the local import market.

Audi Korea CEO Trevor Hill is known as an expert on the Asian market. He worked as a section chief for Hong Kong and China at the Audi headquarters.

Nissan Korea chief executive Kenji Naito, who took office in March 2010, joined Nissan in 1985, and served in a variety of positions within the Japanese automaker’s global network including positions in Thailand, New Zealand and South Africa.

Prior to being appointed as Nissan Korea’s CEO, he was in charge of operations for Central and South American nations.

Among the import car brands with Korean CEOs are BMW/MINI, Volkswagen, Peugeot/Citroen, Ford Motor and Honda Motor.

The Korean leaders are well acquainted with the local market situation and taking the initiative in catching up with consumers’ preferences.

BMW Korea CEO Kim Hyo-joon has strategic and wide relations with local dealers and distributors.

Last September, Handok Motors, the official dealer of BMW/MINI vehicles, opened an integrated showroom in Bundang, south of Seoul, which also offers customers services.

Kim said the nation’s largest-scale showroom in the import car industry reflects close coordination with dealers to maintain the No. 1 position in Korea.

The Munich-based BMW Group’s focus on Korea appears to be based on its confidence in its Korea branch CEO Kim.

Song Seung-chul, president & CEO of Hanbul Motors Corp., the official dealer of Peugeot-Citroen, began his career in import car sales and marketing in 1986 by joining Kolon’s automobile division, which had sold BMW and Saab cars, and has served as the chief executive of Hanbul Motors since 2002.

Song also served as chairman of KAIDA. He was highly praised for increasing the public’s recognition of foreign cars and overseeing successful events such as the 2005 Seoul Motor Show and an import car test-drive event.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)