A General Motors veteran is joining Chery Automobile as design chief, the most recent foreign executive to sign up with a Chinese automaker as regional players become more competitive and gain share in their home market.
Steve Eum, who departed from a GM joint venture in China last year as design director, will join Chery Automobile on July 3, according to an email sent to Chery workers on Monday and read by Reuters.
“My mandate at Chery is to help take Chery design to the next level of global elegance,” Eum informed Reuters by phone after his visit was revealed internally.
Eum will replace James Hope, who will is still working for Chery, as per 2 individuals knowledgeable about the scenario.
Eum’s appointment comes as Chinese automobile brands including Chery, Geely, and Great Wall Motor improve engineering and style and cut into the marketplace share lead still held by foreign brands in China.
A 50-year-old Korean-American, Eum was an assistant chief designer at GM’s innovative design studio in southern California from 2000 to 2012 prior to moving China as design chief for SAIC-GM-Wuling Auto (SGMW), the GM joint venture with SAIC Motor in southern China that offers entry-level cars.
At SGMW, Eum was accountable, to name a few things, for making the joint venture’s Baojun cars, released in 2011, sleeker.
Eum also worked for Ford Motor and Hyundai Motor, will report to Ray Bierzynski, a Chery vice president and GM veteran who likewise operated at SGMW prior to joining Chery in 2015.
