Peter Schreyer, vice president and chief design officer of Kia Motors, was promoted to president of the automaker, Hyundai Motor Group said Friday.

This is the first time that Hyundai Motor Group has appointed a foreigner as president of one of its business units.

Schreyer has been hailed as one of the top car designers with his contribution to the K series of Kia Motors. His K series has been praised as having created a signature automobile design for the nation’s second-largest carmaker.

Beginning in 2005, Kia focused on the European market, identifying design as its core future growth engine ― leading to the 2006 hiring of Schreyer as chief design officer.

Schreyer has been central to a complete restyling of Kia’s lineup, overseeing design at Kia’s design centers in Frankfurt, Los Angeles, Tokyo and the Namyang Design Center in Korea.

On the day, Hyundai Motor Group also carried out a yearly personnel reshuffle of 379 executive posts. Under the reshuffle, Kim Kyung-bae, senior vice president of Hyundai Glovis, the logistics arm of Hyundai Motor Group, was promoted to president.

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