Kia Motors, South Korea’s No. 2 automaker, hired former BMW designer Pierre Leclercq as part of its continued efforts to bolster the design quality of its vehicles, the company said Thursday.

Leclercq previously worked as the head designer of BMW’s high performance M brand before moving to his latest post at Chinese automaker Great Wall Motors in 2013.

“From the end of this month Leclercq will join Kia Motors where he will work with Chief Design Officer of Hyundai Motor Group Peter Schreyer, and head of Kia Design Center in Korea Youn Seon-ho on coming up with mid- and long-term design strategies,” the company said in a statement.

Belgium-born Leclercq graduated from the Art Center College of Design in California and started his career at Ford’s design studio where he worked on the design of the Ford GT supercar.

He then moved to BMW’s design studio in 2000, before moving to the German headquarters in Munich, Germany, and styling the BMW X5 and X6 SUVs along with M-series high performance cars.

Kia Motors scouted former Audi designer Peter Schreyer for the post of chief design officer of Hyundai Motor Group in 2006.

By Kim Bo-gyung (liskim425@heraldcorp.com)