General Manager
Automotive Distributor
Total years of experience :13 years, 1 Months
Reporting to the General Manager with P&L responsibility of USD 40 Million, with the primary mandate of leading and monitoring multiple sales teams across both New Car and Used Car Sales.
• Implementing basic operational processes in Sales and Marketing Departments.
• Financial management of the sales and finance operation. Pricing of new and used vehicles.
• Creating the annual dealership sales forecasts by estimating total vehicle sales, gross and operating profits as well as expenses for the new-and-used sales departments.
• Meeting with vehicle Super Visors to plan and implement objectives for achieving sales and gross profits.
• Hiring and monitoring the performance of the department supervisors and sales people, holding weekly/daily sales meetings and conducting sales training.
• Overseeing standards for displaying and merchandising both new and used vehicles as well as reviewing and initialing all promotions before they are finalized.
• Coordinating the appropriate supply of new and used vehicles and ordering/acquiring vehicle inventory accordingly.
• Meeting monthly/weekly with the GM and CEO to review forecasts and profits for each department.
• Working directly with the general manager on making recommendations on both short and long-range advertising plans, sales promotions, staffing needs, lease promotions and compensation plans.
• Attending to customer complaints, ensuring that a high level of customer satisfaction is obtained.
• Auditing all appraisals of trade-in vehicles.
• Reporting to the Managing Director with a divisional fiscal responsibility of USD 230 Million, with the primary mandate of spearheading the design and development of business development projects for Grey Exports from the GCC market.
• Worked hand-in-hand with National Sales Companies (NSCs) across the MENA region in the UAE, Oman and Lebanon to develop, organize and implement export business activities from within the GCC to Grey Markets in Asia and Africa.
• Monitored NSC performance, and developed action plans and training suggestions to address any shortfalls, as and when was necessary
• Responsible for the Special Projects Department P&L, budgeting, and billing to ensure a profitable and sustainable business division.
• Spearheaded the execution of extensive and in-depth industry and competitor analysis and conducted industry benchmarking to formulate strategic recommendations to improve company positioning and performance.
• Acted as a cross-departmental liaison to ensure alignment with business practices of the wider organization, regularly communicating with diverse internal stakeholders (Sales, Trade Finance, Product Marketing, Product Planning, Trade Finance, Legal, IT, Executive Management).
• Reporting in to the General Manager - Automotive with P&L responsibility of USD 30M, with the primary mandate of leading and monitoring multiple sales teams across both New Car and Used Car Sales.
• Drove sales teams to enhanced performance by creating and implementing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) generated from robust data collection and analysis of sales figures.
• Responsible for Sales Reporting and Sales Forecasting, whilst ensuring adequate stock requirement at all times and conducting new vehicle orders.
• Worked hand-in-hand with the Sales Hamad Al Mana Marketing Department to create and deliver strategic offers and campaigns designed ti increase brand awareness.
• Responsible for the design and execution of New Model Launches, in conjunction with the marketing Department.
• Spearheaded the launch of the first dedicated Infiniti Boutique in the world in conjunction with the OEM, to deliver a premium product offering to high end clientele. Responsible for Architectural Audits, Sales & Operations Audits, Process Design, and the hiring and training of sales staff.
• Led the roll-out of Infiniti Merchandise Sales in Qatar in order to develop additional revenue streams in challenging market conditions.
• Responsible for development of Corporate Sales.
Achievements:
• Launched the new dedicated Infiniti Boutique ( a global first) scoring 100% in the inaugural CI Standards Audit, whilst developing the best Showroom Traffic Control, System across the Nissan Motor Corporation network in the MENA region.
• Increased unit sales performance from 30 to 50 units/month by motivating, targeting and coaching sales staff.
• Successful cooperation with corporate sales clients including Qatar Foundation and Ashgal.
Reporting to the General Manager and managing a team of 20 and a P&L of EU 12 Million, the primary responsibility of this role was the management of daily sales operations across both New and Used Vehicles, Corporate Sales, Fleet and Export for one of the largest BMW Showrooms in Germany.
• Delivered the opening of the first 'i' vehicle showroom selling hybrid vehicles in the region and created go-to-market campaigns for ‘i’ products across Germany.
• Responsible for corporate clients including government fleet and the police.
• Responsible for developing and expanding Export channels in Europe.
• Led and coached Team Leaders to ensure the achievement of sales targets by means of educated delegation, the application of robust KPIs and the delivery of up-to-date product training. pricing and valuations.
• Wholly responsible for the preparation of marketing plans and the implementation of advertising/ promotional campaigns, marketing promotions, media programs.
• Spearheaded marketing & advertising efforts through the creation of press releases in various publications in the German National Press and the organization of events and roadshows.
• Organized and arranged Customer Activation events such as: new model launch events, vineyard tours, Nürburgring driving events, and M Driving Experience events.
Achievements:
• Launched the first BMW i Showroom in the region
• Ensured the compliance of the new BMW i Showroom with Manufacturer standards, scoring 98% in a subsequent BMW standards audit.
• Led New and Used Vehicle Sales Operations in becoming the best-performing showroom out of 17 locations in the region.
• Involved in the start up of the ‘Drive Now’ car sharing operation providing a fleet of cars for that platform.
• Developed CIS and Eastern European Markets as a new export channels for BMW in the region.
• Reporting to the General Manager with responsibility for managing and motivating a successful sales team responsible for New and Used Vehicle Sales. • Developed the sales policies and procedures for vehicles offered through the showroom, as well as managing trade-in processes and used car pricing. • Managed key relationships with large clients such as NATO (50, 000 employees) to drive unit sales and profitability. • Given the nature of diplomatic sales over 90% of cars were specified for the customers individual needs, and a high proportion of units sold were M series. • Managed both internal (inter-departmental) and external (vendors, business associates, and dealers) relationships to ensure optimum performance and revenue generation. • Managed and controlled Marketing budgets and worked with local third-party partners, including local media, whilst maintaining professional working relationships with local official bodies. • Implemented PR campaigns to celebrate successes and awards and the promotion of special models.
• Launching n-tv’s web shop and developing a strong go to market branding strategy. Development and monitoring of editorial benchmarking. Planning and coordination of editorial production. Conceptualizing and designing marketing products and promotions. Defining and formalizing pricing strategy, product proposition design methodology and business case development process
• Program planning, production of new TV formats, inventing new products to merchandise the TV channels, presenting and selling products “On Air”, presenting Lifestyle programs “On Air”, update live Teletext, advertising, cutting trailers for television, managing the Web shop, negotiation with the business partners, organising and coordinating marketing events.
• Market monitoring. Producing a quarterly and annual activity reports detailing marketing and publicity achievements, results, and evaluation.