New challenge: After four years leading the marketing efforts of Peugeot, Citroen and DS brands in Australia, Dimitri Andreatidis now turns his attention to Toyota’s truck brand Hino.

HINO Motor Sales Australia (HMSA) has appointed Dimitri Andreatidis as national marketing manager, replacing Sarah Rosales who has moved to Toyota Finance Australia after three years in the position.

Effective immediately, Mr Andreatidis’ appointment to Toyota’s Sydney-based truck division marks a return for him to the Japanese auto giant, having spent a decade – from 2003 to 2013 – with Toyota Australia in various marketing and product planning roles including national marketing manager for all passenger vehicles, national marketing manager for CBU (completely built up) passenger cars and marketing manager for four-wheel-drive and commercial vehicles.

He also served as national launch manager for Toyota 4WD and commercial vehicles, marketing and product planner for the Toyota Racing Development (TRD) sports division, and product specialist for Daihatsu and locally manufactured Toyota vehicles.

For the past four years, Mr Andreatidis has worked as head of marketing for PSA Group’s Peugeot, Citroen and DS brands, which were the responsibility of Sime Darby Motor Group before distribution rights shifted to Inchcape Australasia in June.

Earlier in his career, Mr Andreatidis spent a year as a marketing consultant for Australia Post, 18 months with advertising agency Euro RSCG (now Havas Worldwide), almost two years as a marketing co-ordinator with computer company Gateway, a year as an advertising co-ordinator with Saatchi & Saatchi and another 12 months as a sales assistant with the Motorama Toyota dealership in Queensland.

In announcing the appointment this week, HMSA general manager for brand and franchise development Bill Gillespie said: “Dimitri’s appointment adds new energy, passion and innovative thinking to an already very experienced senior management team at HMSA.”

Meanwhile, Ms Rosales has joined Toyota Finance Australia as national retention manager, based in Sydney.

Sarah Rosales

In a staff bulletin, Mr Gillespie said that “while Sarah’s departure is obviously a loss to Hino, we fully support Sarah’s desire to advance her career, which this opportunity allows her to do”.

“The good news is that she will remain within the wider Toyota family,” he said.

“In her new role, Sarah will lead exciting and key Toyota and Toyota Finance challenges around customer retention, working at a national level with TMCA and TFA in all areas of the business.”

Mr Gillespie said Ms Rosales had been “a key driver” of the regeneration of the Hino brand, and its Customer Connect program, pointing to achievements such as the truck brands first-ever national sponsorship through Supercars Australia, the introduction of the dealer marketing centre, the creation and development of the Hino Advantage program, “the drive towards a new social media approach for Hino, and a complete reset of the Hino brand across all platforms”.

“Sarah leaves a strong legacy within the Hino business at an HMSA level and across the dealer network, and I want to personally thank her for her dedication and passion in her role at Hino,” he added.

Ms Rosales previously served as group marketing manager (Victoria and New South Wales) for Automotive Holdings Group (AHG), spending seven years with Australia’s largest automotive retail company.

She also worked for Hyundai Motor Co Australia (HMCA) for about five years in roles including marketing manager (accessories) and brand manager (parts and accessories), and has experience across health, government and IT sectors.

By Terry Martin