Bigger than Ben-Hur: Woong Hur (left) will take the top job at Kia Australia after Sang-Hyun Cho’s direction nearly doubled the brand’s yearly sales after just four years.

KIA Motors Australia (KMAu) has appointed a new president and CEO, replacing outgoing Sang-Hyun (SH) Cho after four years in the top job with Woong Hur.

Mr Hur moves from his current role as the head of Kia Motors Germany – a position he held for two years – and prior to that, was the executive director at Kia Motors Russia from 2013 to 2016.

According to Mr Hur, under his leadership, KMAu will continue its push for more growth and increased sales.

“Kia in Australia has enjoyed unprecedented success under Mr Cho and I am excited to have an opportunity to continue and refine that success,” he said.

“I am aware that there are many challenges, but there are also many opportunities and I embrace both aspects.”

He previously worked in the Hyundai Motor Group coordinating and planning division between 2007 and 2013, and was also with Kia UK and Ireland from 2000 to 2006.

Mr Cho on the other hand, will return to South Korea in a senior global role after taking Kia Australia’s top job in 2014.

Under Mr Cho’s guidance, KMAu sales have grown from 28,005 units in 2014 to 42,668 units in 2016 – enough to secure it tenth place in the top-selling brands of the year.

With one month to go in the year, Kia has already surpassed last year’s total with 50,730 new registrations to the end of November representing a significant 28.9 per cent lift year-on-year.

By Tung Nguyen