Kia Motors vice chairman Jeong Sung Eun resigned on 3 September to take responsibility for a recent recall of four models, a company spokesman has confirmed.
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The Hyundai Motor affiliate told Bloomberg News it had recalled about 85,900 vehicles worldwide because of an electrical wiring problem that can cause fires.
In the United States, about 35,000 Souls and Sorentos from the 2010 and 2011 model years were recalled last week and a small number in the UK on Tuesday. Kia Motors America had said faulty wiring harnesses could short and cause a fire.
Jeong was a former president of Kia, in charge of the production division, and the company has not appointed a new vice chairman, the spokesman, Michael Choo, told the news agency.
The company will also recall 18,147 Sorento, Borego and Soul models in China because of problems with circuit boards, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said in a statement on its web site.
