Aftersales director takes over running of Kia in UK

Kia has appointed aftersales director Hamish McCowan to run the marque in the UK following the departure of managing director Paul Williams. McCowan has taken on the new role of operations director until a permanent replacement for Williams is found.

McCowan joined Kia in 2000 and became head of aftersales in 2003. He was promoted to director of aftersales, general affairs and learning and development at the start of this year.

Kia’s UK president Byung Kwang Jang says: “Since the departure of Paul there was a gap in our structure and, although we have begun a process to appoint a permanent successor, it was vital that we put in place someone to ensure that our internal business operations were continuing to deliver the competitive advantage we have built over recent years.”

Williams left Kia at the end of last month, following a period of indefinite leave (MW August 31). He joined from Colt Car Company, where he was sales and marketing director. He is a former chief executive of Daihatsu UK and has also worked at Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Peugeot.

The company’s general manager of marketing Lawrence Hamilton will report to McCowan until a full-time managing director is found.