Kia America Shifts Management

Irvine-based Kia Motors America, riding two years of heady sales growth, reorganized its top management Monday.

J.H. Lee, former head of parent Hyundai Motor Co.’s Canadian operations, will take over as president of the U.S. import and distribution company. Executive Vice President Peter M. Butterfield will add the title and duties of chief operating officer, taking over day-to-day operations.

Lee succeeds Byung Mo Ahn, 51, who will transfer to Hyundai Automotive Group to head an unspecified “special assignment” in the U.S. Changes take effect Jan. 2.

Ahn is a longtime Hyundai executive who joined Kia Motors America in 1999, shortly after Hyundai acquired controlling interest in its South Korean auto-making rival. He oversaw two years of record sales and is transferring as part of a normal executive rotation.

Lee, 52, has been with Hyundai Motor since 1975. He joined Hyundai Auto Canada five years ago.

Butterfield, 48, is a 25-year veteran of the automotive industry who became Kia’s executive vice president Nov. 1 after moving from Ford Motor Co.’s Volvo brand, where he was executive vice president of its North American passenger-car unit.