April 19, 2024

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[THE IVNESTOR] BMW Korea said on Feb. 9 that its CEO Kim Hyo-joon will serve another three-year term after having taken the helm over the past 17 years.

Kim, 60, was the first Korean CEO to lead an imported car brand in 2000. Across BMW’s 140 local units -- except in Europe -- he was the first native CEO at the time. 

BMW Korea CEO Kim Hyo-joon

If he completes another term, he would have led the Korean unit of the German luxury carmaker for a whopping 20 years.

This is a rare case within the local imported car market where top executives are usually replaced on a regular basis. Since Kim’s success story, other brands have also hired local sales veterans. But more recently with car sales soaring, a growing number of foreign executives from the headquarters are being dispatched to oversee the local operations.

During his tenure, BMW’s car sales soared from 714 vehicles in 1995 to 48,459 vehicles in 2016. Korea was the seventh-largest market for BMW last year.

In 2003, Kim was appointed as an executive at the German head office, the first for an Asian. In 2013, he was promoted as senior vice president.

This year, BMW is pinning high hopes on the upcoming new BMW 5 Series that will hit the market in February to beef up its car sales.

By Park Yuna (yunapark@heraldcorp.com)