Cian O’Brien

AUDI Australia has named Cian O’Brien as its incoming managing director, replacing Andrew Doyle who is relocating to Milton Keynes in England at the end of March 2017 to become the new director of Audi UK.

The two executives are effectively changing places, with Mr O’Brien currently serving as acting head of Audi UK after the recent departure of Andre Konsbruck – in addition to his role as director of sales, a position he has held for the past two years.

Prior to that the 38-year-old Irishman was head of fellow Volkswagen Group brand Seat in Ireland for almost two years, having moved from Audi Ireland where he worked as general manager of aftersales and fleet operations manager over a two-and-a-half-year period.

Earlier in his career, Mr O’Brien worked in the retail side of the industry, with stints at Kevin O’Leary Audi in Cork (as brand manager) and Lexus Cork (as general sales manager).

Mr O’Brien’s position in Australia becomes effective in April next year and he heads Down Under after delivering successive sales records for Audi in the UK.

Fresh start: Audi Australia managing director Andrew Doyle (left) will be replaced by Cian O’Brien (right) in March 2017.

Mr Doyle, 47, has spent almost four years in the top job at Audi Australia, overseeing the prestige brand’s rapid annual sales growth which last year passed 23,000 sales and will this year reach a new high-water mark, with new registrations up 6.6 per cent to the end of September.

The UK is a much bigger market, with Mr O’Brien helping ensure a record 166,709 deliveries to customers last year, up five per cent on the previous year. The brand has achieved consistent year-on-year increases since 2011.

Andrew Doyle

An Australian national, Mr Doyle also has strong links to Audi in Ireland, having served as director of the company there for two years before returning to Australia in March 2013 after his predecessor in Australia, Uwe Hagen, returned to Germany to recuperate from injuries suffered in a serious motorcycle accident in Tasmania in October 2012.

Before the stint in Ireland, Mr Doyle was general manager of sales at Audi Australia from July 2005 to December 2010. He previously spent 13 years with the BMW Group in both Australia and Canada.

As well as serving as managing director of Audi Australia, which is run independently of Volkswagen Group Australia, Mr Doyle is a director of Audi Centre Sydney and a founding board member of the Audi Foundation in Australia.

“I’m sad to be leaving such a strong team and retail network in Australia after what feels like a very brief four years at the helm,” Mr Doyle said.

“However, I’m confident that Cian O’Brien will step quickly into the role of managing director and will continue to drive our vision of sustained growth in Australia for the Audi brand, supported by a year of benchmark new product launches like the Audi Q2 and Q5.

“I’m also extremely excited to take on another new challenge within our great brand, leading Audi’s fourth-largest world market – the United Kingdom. It’s a really fantastic opportunity for me.”

By Terry Martin