Kia Motors India has appointed Hardeep Singh Brar as the National Head of Sales and Marketing, with immediate effect.

 Commenting on his appointment, Kookhyun Shim, MD and CEO, Kia Motors India said, “We are delighted to welcome Hardeep Singh Brar to Kia Motors India family as we accelerate our growth strategy to expand to newer regions in India. Kia has been able to disrupt the Indian automobile industry and emerge as a market leader in a record time and with Brar onboard, we are confident of consolidating our position further through a more consumer focused approach.”

As per the UV market share statistics for the April 2020-February 2021 period, Kia Motors India, with 136,586 units and 15.13%, is in fourth position – a remarkable achievement having launched its first product — the Seltos — barely 18 months ago. 

The company clocked sales of 16,702 units in February, registering an uptick of 7 percent (15,644). The performance is being driven by demand for its newest product – the Sonet compact crossover – as well as the Seltos SUV, which remains the mainstay.

Introduced in September last year, the Sonet, by October 2020, had already garnered over 50,000 bookings, with waiting times soaring as high as nine months in some cities. In the next fiscal, Kia Motors India will be gearing up to introduce an MPV, with an aim to rival the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga in terms of pricing, but the Toyota Innova Crysta, in terms of the product attributes.

Hardeep Singh Brar said, “I have followed Kia’s India journey and witnessed the way Kia has disrupted the market with three segment-leading products. It is an exciting phase that Kia Motors India is in right now and I look forward to continuing Kia’s phenomenal run and shaping the future for the brand.”

Brar has over two decades of experience in the automotive industry and was most recently the Director Marketing & Sales at Great Wall Motors. He has also held senior leadership positions across sales, network, and marketing functions at Maruti Suzuki India, Volkswagen, General Motors and Nissan. He holds a mechanical engineering degree from Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Punjab and is an alumnus of Harvard Business School.