Samsung SDI said Friday that it had recently conducted an executive-level reshuffle to appoint a new electric-car battery chief.

According to the South Korean electric vehicle battery maker, the reshuffle included major posts -- chief financial officer, head of the medium-to-large-battery division and head of the small-battery division.

Kwon Young-no, chief of the business management office, has been replaced by Kim Jong-sung, who had previously worked at Samsung Electronics’ video display division. Kim will aslo take post as CFO.

The medium-to-large-battery division, which manufactures batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage systems, appointed Park Zin, senior vice president of Samsung SDI’s Europe office, as the new chief to replace Ahn Tae-hyuk.

Kim Yoon-chang, director of the Samsung SDI R&D Center, who was promoted to executive vice president in last year’s annual reshuffle, will switch posts with Chang Hyuk, executive vice president of the company’s small-battery division.

Kwon Young-no and Ahn Tae-hyuk will remain with the company as advisers.

“The reshuffle was intended to cultivate next-generation leaders to make the organization more dynamic,” a Samsung SDI official said.

The reshuffle follows multiple reports of fires involving electric vehicles loaded with Samsung SDI batteries. Last year Ford recalled 20,500 Kuga plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in Europe after seven caught fire during charging. In the same year, BMW decided to recall 26,900 plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, encompassing almost all models, after a number of vehicles caught fire. 

By Kim Byung-wook (kbw@heraldcorp.com)