Nigel Clegg, who has held the position of chairman of Kia’s dealer forum for the last 2½ years, is giving up his Kia franchise in order to concentrate on growing business with Mitsubishi.

Clegg’s Livery Dole dealership in Exeter has represented the budget Korean brand for four years.

However, in the last quarter Livery Dole’s Mitsubishi sales rose by 30% and Clegg says that the business would rather just focus on one brand.

“It’s also an issue of size, we simply do not have enough space to house Kia alongside our growing Mitsubishi business. We have a huge respect for Kia’s brand and its products and we have parted on an extremely amicable basis,” he says.

The dealership is currently working together with Kia on finding a replacement for Livery Dole in the area.

“We’ll continue to support the customers and brand through the two year notice period and we’re doing everything we can to help Kia in the most professional manner,” says Clegg.

A spokeswoman for Kia Motors UK told AM that a new chairman for the forum would be elected by the carmaker’s dealers in the next four to six weeks. Until then, the forum remains without a chairman.

Clegg previously held the position of chairman at Mitsubishi’s dealer forum from 2000 to 2005.