Kia South Africa’s new CEO seeks to push market share beyond 5% by 2026
Kia South Africa has appointed Paul Turnbull as its new CEO.
Turnbull joins the Korean brand from sibling Hyundai Automotive South Africa. He succeeds Gary Scott, who takes up the position of chief digital officer at Kia’s parent company, Motus Holdings.
Turnbull (51) was born and raised in Johannesburg. He started his career in the automotive industry at 22, joining Wheels of Africa, which held the distributorship for Hyundai in South Africa at the time, as a sales coordinator.
He became the company’s youngest dealer principal in 1997 at the age of 25.
Wheels of Africa was liquidated In 1999, with the Hyundai distributorship moving to Associated Motor Holdings, a division of Imperial Holdings, which in 2018 unbundled into Motus Holdings.
Within these networks, Turnbull was promoted to regional director in 2005, and, in 2023, to MD of Hyundai’s retail division.
Turnbull says he is positive about the growth opportunities for the Kia brand in South Africa.
“I’m excited to join the Kia brand, despite the current economic headwinds that are affecting the entire automotive industry,” he says.
“Kia is a brilliant brand with brilliant products, and there are boundless opportunities for the brand to accelerate the remarkable growth it’s seen in the 25 years it’s been active in South Africa.
“The industry is facing many challenges at the moment, but we remain bullish about growing Kia’s market share beyond 5% in the next two years,” notes Turnbull.
“It is imperative for us to grow the trust and confidence our shareholders and retail investors have in the brand through increased profitability in the retail network.”
A key focus for Turnbull is to reset expectations and “to ensure that the right people are in the right places”.
He has also greenlit further investments into the training and development of staff.
Comments
Latest Multimedia
Showroom
Weir is a global leader in mining technology. We recognise that our planet’s future depends on the transition to renewable energy, and that...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Goodwin Submersible Pumps Africa is sole distributors for Goodwin electrically driven, submersible, abrasion resistance slurry pumps.
VISIT SHOWROOM
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
