Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's No. 2 carmaker, has hired Oleg Son, a former Peugeot Citroen Automobiles SA designer, to differentiate the styling of its vehicles, the company said Wednesday.

Starting early November, the French-born Oleg Son, 57, will work with Vice President Pierre Leclercq, a former BMW designer, to develop Kia's long-term design strategy and lead design innovation, the company said in a statement. 


Oleg Son began his career at PSA in 1988 and worked as designer for three decades until he recently left the French carmaker. In the past seven years, he was responsible for PSA's design strategy in China, it said.

He will work at Kia's technology institute in China as vice president and report to President and Chief Design Officer Peter Schreyer, who is in charge of Hyundai Motor Group's design strategy, a company spokesman said.

Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors together form the world's fifth-biggest carmaker by sales. (Yonhap)