Kia has secured its capability to lead global design trends by bringing in attention-grabbing design experts in the automotive industry.
On March 26 (Tuesday), Kia announced the appointment of designer Oliver Samson as the head of the Kia European Design Center, who has extensive design experience at Mercedes-Benz and Nio (Nio). Designer Lim Seung-mo, who comes from BMW and Geely, has been appointed as the head of Kia’s China Design. The job placements will begin on April 1 (Monday).
As the head of the Kia European Design Center, Oliver Samson will lead the development of next-generation interior and exterior designs that embody Kia’s design philosophy, ‘Opposites United’, contributing to Kia’s unique design competitiveness in the rapidly changing global automotive industry.
Oliver Samson has worked as an automotive designer since 2003, being responsible for numerous vehicle design projects.
He joined the Hyundai/Kia European Design Center in 2003 as an exterior designer, participating in the creation of the Hyundai i20 and Kia Ceed concept cars.
In 2007, he moved to Mercedes-Benz, where he led the design development of EQ Silver Arrow, Maybach SIX Coupe, A-class sedan, Vision AMG GT6, and F015, among others.
From 2018, he served as the head of exterior design for Nio, working on projects like ET5/ET7 and EC6. Then in 2022, he took on various design projects as the head of innovative design at Zhang’an Automobile.
Im Seung-mo, who has joined as head of Kia’s China Design, will establish a customized design strategy tailored to China, embarking on the development of advanced and innovative designs.
Im Seung-mo graduated from Hongik University with a major in Industrial Design, then earned a master’s degree in transportation design from Pforzheim University in Germany.
Since 2010, he has been with the BMW Group, managing exterior design in projects including the BMW i4, Series 4, Vision Next 100, and 235i Racing.
In 2022, he led design projects for new electric vehicle brands as the head of exterior design for DiDi Chuxing in China; by 2023, he was appointed as the overall leader of innovative design at Geely, overseeing the design development across various models from concept to production.
Oliver Samson expressed, “I am very pleased to have the opportunity to join Kia at a time of significant change in the mobility sector. I will strive to enhance Kia’s design value alongside Kia’s talented designers.”
Im Seung-mo stated, “I will do my utmost to enhance future design competitiveness under Kia’s progressive design philosophy, and I will contribute to ensuring that Kia’s China Design continues to play an important role moving forward.”
Karim Habib, Kia’s Vice President in charge of global design, emphasized, “The recruitment of these two outstanding design talents has equipped Kia design with superior design competitiveness. We will showcase innovative designs for the future under the philosophy of
Lee Sang-jin daedusj@autodiary.kr