Renault Samsung Motors said Friday that Renault Group has named Stephane Deblaise, the former vehicle program director at the French headquarters, as a new chief to lead the Korean business. 

The 49-year-old who served Renault’s advanced project and cross-car line program director until recently will assume the new role from March 1. 

Deblaise is joining the Korean unit as the first CEO with an engineering background. He also served as Renault’s chief engineer to oversee the entry program in America and led the product and corporate planning team in China as programs vice president. 

Renault Samsung said it expects the new leader to attribute to the successful launch of eco-friendly vehicles in the local market based on his expertise and experience in leading launching projects in several markets, including France, Brazil and China. 

He is also expected to play a role in developing new cars running on the CMA, or compact modular architecture, platform, a new midsize unibody automobile platform jointly developed by Volvo and Geely. 

Renault Group signed a contract with Geely Holdings of China to produce new eco-friendly vehicles at Renault Samsung’s Busan factory from 2024.
The Korean team also thanked his predecessor Dominique Signora, who spent four years as CEO here, for leading the export of XM3 compact SUV to Europe. The XM3 made up 48 percent of the Busan plant’s total production volume last year. 

By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)