Mini appoints Matt Schmidt to General Manager in Australia and New Zealand
Mr Schmidt will take over from Brett Waudby, effective immediately.
BMW subsidiary Mini has appointed Matt Schmidt to the role of General Manager of the brand's operations in Australia and New Zealand, effective immediately.
Mr Schmidt – who has worked for the wider BMW Group since 2004 – previously acted as the brand's National Sales Manager for Operations & Planning.
He replaces Brett Waudby, who has served in the role since April 2018. Mr Waudby will now head up BMW’s Retail Network.
Under his leadership, Mini sales remained relatively steady, if tapering slightly. In 2018 Mini reported 1718 cars as sold up to the end of May, according to VFACTS industry sales data. This accounted for 0.4 per cent of the Australia new-car market.
Over the same period in 2021 the brand reported 1528 vehicles as sold, reflecting a local market share of 0.3 per cent.
Wolfgang Buechel, CEO of BMW Group Australia, said: “Brett and Matt are two experienced leaders with considerable knowledge of the BMW Group brands. They have brought important change and growth to both BMW and MINI and their expertise will be of great benefit to their new positions and their new teams.”
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