After almost four years Jon Walsh, senior press officer at Kia Motors (UK) Ltd, is leaving to take on a new challenge in the Far East.

Jon has been with Kia since the autumn of 2006 and has contributed significantly to the development of the Kia brand in the UK and will leave the company on 30 July.

Stephen Kitson, communications director at Kia said: "Jon has been a central part of our efforts to give the UK media a high quality, professional press service and without a doubt he has made a significant impact on the style and character of all the activities we have undertaken during almost four years. His experience as a journalist and his keen eye for detail, particularly making events work for our media colleagues will be missed.

"We are very sad to see him go but we understand his desire to take on a new challenge and everyone at Kia wishes him the very best success in his new role. It means we are losing a creative and passionate contributor to Kia's new product and corporate communications activities - and I am particularly sad to see him move on, he added.

Jon said: "I've ticked a lot of boxes at Kia so for my next challenge I'll be moving to Hong Kong to tackle PR in one of the most multi-cultural environments on the planet. Opportunities to work within the gateway to China are few and far between and you cannot always choose the timing of these things.

"I must thank everyone at KMUK who has supported our team and in particular our friends and colleagues at Kia Motors Corporation in Seoul, where I was based for a time. And finally I would thank everyone in the media who has given Kia a fair crack of the whip - without their understanding of what Kia is trying to deliver our team could not have achieved so much whilst I have been part of the Kia family," he commented.