Photo: MINI
MINI sales have been doing poorly ever since the new model was introduced. Last year, the sales increase posted was a measly 1 percent, way below what the BMW Group wanted to see. Of course, such a behavior from the market was expected as the Mk3 hardtop was being rolled out but nobody expected the drop to be so big.
Even though the official press release doesn’t state it up front, there have been some changes done in the higher hierarchies of the British brand to address this issue. The current head of MINI, John Goller, will be replaced with Sebastian Mackensen starting with March.
Up until then, Mackensen will continue to work as the company’s sales boss, a position he held since he joined the Brits back in 2013 from rival Audi. At the Ingolstadt-based manufacturer, he oversaw the sales in North and South America.
At the same time, John Goller will be moving to China, to take over as the Sales and Marketing Boss of the BMW-Brilliance joint venture, a position that was previously occupied by Peter van Binsbergen who will be taking over as Senior Vice-President for sales and marketing of the German branch of the BMW Group.
Other high-level changes include the addition of Bernard Kuhnt to the team as the head of BMW’s importer markets, a position that has him oversee over 80 countries. Previously, Kuhnt worked at Jaguar Land Rover and was in charge of the European sales of the British brands.
Moving in from the UK will also be Uwe Dreher that will be the new head of marketing for the BMW brand and the BMW i and BMW M sub-brands after holding the same position in the Island alone. However, unlike all the other changes that will be enforced starting with March 1st, he will be assuming his new role starting with April 1st.
Up until then, Mackensen will continue to work as the company’s sales boss, a position he held since he joined the Brits back in 2013 from rival Audi. At the Ingolstadt-based manufacturer, he oversaw the sales in North and South America.
At the same time, John Goller will be moving to China, to take over as the Sales and Marketing Boss of the BMW-Brilliance joint venture, a position that was previously occupied by Peter van Binsbergen who will be taking over as Senior Vice-President for sales and marketing of the German branch of the BMW Group.
Other high-level changes include the addition of Bernard Kuhnt to the team as the head of BMW’s importer markets, a position that has him oversee over 80 countries. Previously, Kuhnt worked at Jaguar Land Rover and was in charge of the European sales of the British brands.
Moving in from the UK will also be Uwe Dreher that will be the new head of marketing for the BMW brand and the BMW i and BMW M sub-brands after holding the same position in the Island alone. However, unlike all the other changes that will be enforced starting with March 1st, he will be assuming his new role starting with April 1st.
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