The German designer who shaped Volkswagen's current Beetle and the Audi TT, is to join Kia Motors as its global head of design next month.
Peter Schreyer (53) is being brought in to add some appeal to the brand's range of cars that traditionally were regarded as being relatively well built, but primarily sold for the their low cost.
Kia is keen to be seen as a "cool" youth brand and is seeking to take more of its design direction from Europe.
Design is seen as increasingly important for Korean brands in their efforts to make it into the top five global car producers by the end of the decade.
"Mr Schreyer's appointment will complement Kia's significantly increasing emphasis on automobile design and support the ongoing regeneration of its model range," a company statement said.
Schreyer starts the new job on September 1st. He will oversee Kia's regional design centres in Frankfurt, Los Angeles and Tokyo, as well as the flagship Namyang Design Center in Korea. He has headed the Volkswagen group's advanced design operations since last year, having been chief designer at VW's premium arm Audi from 1994 to 2002 and at Volkswagen from 2002 to 2005.
The announcement comes after Kia issued the first official photographs of its all-new family hatchback - codenamed 'ED' - at the British International Motor Show in London.
Created especially for European consumers, the new model is intended to be Kia's competitor against the likes of the VW Golf, Toyota Corolla and Ford Focus.
It goes on sale across Europe in December 2006.
The five-door family hatchback will make its world premiere at the Paris motor show at the end of next month, when its final name will be revealed.
From launch, a range of four engines will be available, including 1.4-litre, 1.6-litre and 2-litre CVVT petrol engines along with a new 1.6-litre VGT diesel engine.