Kia Motors have promoted Peter Schreyer, Chief Design Officer since 2006, to become the new – and the first non-Korean – president of the entire corporation. Schreyer will continue to serve as the design boss.

That is a well-deserved promotion for the German designer, as he is the man who transformed Kia from the manufacturer of cheap and rubbish cars into the prestigious car maker they are today by revolutionizing their design. And he did it almost single-handedly.

The former member of the Volkswagen design team, who has cars like the Passat and the first-gen Audi TT to his name, gave Kia their new corporate look with models like Forte, Picanto, Sportage and Koup,  and is these days updating that look with the new generation Kia models such as Optima, K7 and Quoris.

Schreyer has publicly commented on his commitment to Kia and his desire to remain with the company to continue the challenge of making Kia the most design-focused Korean car manufacturer.