After a successful five-year period at Kia Europe, David Hilbert will return to Kia UK in the position of Sales Director, effective from 1 May 2026.
Reporting to Simon Hetherington, Commercial Director at Kia UK, Hilbert will oversee sales across retail and fleet sectors for both passenger cars and commercial vehicles. Working in partnership with Kia’s nationwide dealer network, he will continue the sustained success and growth the brand has achieved year-on-year.
Kia UK ended 2025 as the fourth best-selling brand with a 5.6% market share, having delivered 113,436 vehicles to UK customers. This positioned the Kia UK subsidiary as the best performing market in Europe. 2026 will mark the first full year of commercial vehicles sales for Kia, which alongside passenger cars and sustainable growth plans, is set to be another record year for the business.
Kia Europe’s Marketing Director since January 2022, David delivered strategic brand development, marketing communications, digital innovation, social media, and PR & corporate communications. During this period Hilbert played a central role for the European business across the implementation of Kia’s brand transformation and the introduction of the newly formed PBV business. He also supported the delivery of Kia’s ‘Plan S’ product and corporate strategy in Europe, while also leading on the successful EV6 ‘European Car of the Year’ strategy, and more recent 2025 ‘International Van of the Year’ award for the Kia PV5.
Hilbert previously worked at Kia UK as Marketing Director between 2016 and 2022, where he was named one of the most effective UK marketers in Marketing Week’s ‘Top 100’. Hilbert joined Kia from Toyota (GB) plc where he served as General Manager of Vehicle Marketing. Prior to that, Hilbert held a variety of Marketing, Sales and Purchasing roles at the company. A graduate of Loughborough University, he also worked in the high street retail industry prior to joining the automotive industry.
David Hilbert commented on his appointment: “I am thrilled to be joining Kia UK once again, after a rewarding few years at Kia Europe. I am also excited to take on a new challenge and apply my skills to lead the Sales department for Kia’s best performing market in Europe. Kia UK consistently delivers progressive sales success year-on-year in a challenging and volatile market, it will be my keen focus to maintain this impressive track record.”
Hilbert replaces Sanka De Silva, who has held the Sales Director position since March last year. Sanka joined Kia in 2017 and worked across a variety of roles before becoming Marketing Director following Hilbert’s departure to Kia’s European headquarters. In 2025, De Silva swapped to Sales Director, helping to lead the launch of Kia’s PBV business in the UK among other notable accomplishments. De Silva, having served at Kia for nearly a decade, now departs the business for a new challenge elsewhere in the automotive industry.
Simon Hetherington, Kia UK’s Commercial Director, commented: “Kia UK’s success can be partly attributed to the consistency and longevity of the senior leadership team. Reappointing David into our business as Sales Director is a strategic move to ensure we maintain our long-term strategy planning and delivery ability, alongside our award-winning partnership with our dealer partners. David has developed a great reputation within Kia to date and I’m proud to have him back as a senior member of Kia UK.
“My thanks go to Sanka for his determination, hard work and loyalty to the Kia brand for nearly 10 years, and we wish him our very best wishes for the future.”
