Hyundai Motor America Announces Promotions of Top Executives

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., April 5 -- Hyundai Motor America (HMA) President and CEO, Robert F. Cosmai, has announced the promotions of several key executives. The promotions include Katherine Parker to vice president, Human Resources and Community Affairs; Chris Hosford to vice president, Corporate Communications; Ron Haughey to executive director, Finance Operations; Bob Stephenson to director of Parts Distribution and Paul Whitworth to director of Strategic Planning and Brand Development.

"As Hyundai continues to grow in the marketplace, it is important to recognize and reward the hard work of executives who have done so much to help us fuel this growth," said Cosmai. "We're committed to bringing in the best outside executive talent and in advancing our own people to meet our growing needs."

In her new role as vice president of Human Resources and Community Relations, Parker will continue to set up and develop Human Resource policy for Hyundai Motor America and Hyundai Motor Finance Company (HMFC). She has been with HMA since 1988 and is credited with developing a benefits package that ranks in the 95th percentile of all U.S. industries. Parker is also committed to attracting new talent and retaining current Hyundai employees with state-of-the-art training programs that equip every employee with the tools they need to develop professionally. Currently, Parker is finalizing plans for a Hyundai Foundation, which will consolidate HMA's charitable giving programs.

As vice president of Corporate Communications, Chris Hosford is responsible for HMA's corporate and product media relations, government relations, dealer communications and external diversity communications. He is also the communications liaison to Hyundai's other U.S. operations, including its first U.S. manufacturing facility, Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama. Hosford joined Hyundai in 1997 as director of Communications.

Director of Finance Operations, Ron Haughey oversees all of Hyundai's most critical accounting functions, including payroll and accounts payable, as well as vehicle and parts accounting. He is responsible for communicating with data processing personnel to improve the collection of information and coordinating all financial reports for HMA and HMFC. Haughey has been with HMA since 1999.

As the director of Parts Distribution, Bob Stephenson is responsible for managing HMA Parts and Distribution Centers for all of Hyundai's regions. Stephenson also heads up the Dealer Support Center, which is responsible for expediting parts to Hyundai dealers, and is essential to customer satisfaction. He joined Hyundai in 2000 as the national manager of Parts Planning and has held a number of positions, most recently national manager of Parts Distribution.

In his new role as director of Strategic Planning and Brand Development, Paul Whitworth is responsible for managing the business planning process, leading key strategy projects, managing market research activities, implementing Hyundai's new brand identity and guiding Hyundai's investments in Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Whitworth joined Hyundai as the national manager for CRM in 2004, and his role quickly expanded to include market research and strategy.

Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company of Korea. Hyundai cars and sport utility vehicles are distributed in the U.S. by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced by more than 660 dealers throughout the nation.