Fountain Valley-based Hyundai Motor America Inc. on Tuesday replaced its top executive with an official from the automaker’s parent company in South Korea.
O.S. Koh, a senior vice president at Seoul-based Hyundai Motor Co., was named chief executive of the automaker’s U.S. arm. He replaces Robert Cosmai, who’s headed the unit since 2003.
Koh has served as a chief executive coordinator at Hyundai Motor America and as chief executive of Translead, a Hyundai subsidiary in San Diego.
Hyundai didn’t say what was behind the change. The automaker and Cosmai “have ended their relationship,” Hyundai said in a statement.
Cosmai is an auto industry veteran who previously served as an executive at Ford Motor Co., Nissan Motor Co., Mazda Motor Co. and the Acura division of Honda Motor Co.
Under Cosmai, Hyudai expanded annual U.S. sales to 455,012 vehicles, a 14% increase. The automaker also opened its first U.S. auto-assembly plant under his watch.
Last week at the Detroit auto show, Cosmai told Bloomberg that a series of new models could boost sales at least 15% this year.
Chris Hosford, a spokesman for Hyundai Motor America, told Bloomberg that the company wanted to streamline decision-making in its North American operations. He declined to discuss the reasons for Cosmai’s departure.
