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Staying power: At only 48, John Startari has already headed up the local arms of automotive brands including Proton, Lotus, Peugeot and Citroen.

Staying power: At only 48, John Startari has already headed up the local arms of automotive brands including Proton, Lotus, Peugeot and Citroen.

JOHN Startari has resigned from his position as head of Peugeot and Citroen in Australia after three years as general manager and director, and is now preparing to take more than three decades’ industry experience into his own automotive consulting business.

Mr Startari, 48, from Kellyville in New South Wales, joined PSA’s independent distributor Sime Darby Motors Group in 2012 to oversee the Citroen brand in Australia, after a 15-year stint with Proton Cars Australia.

“I started as an apprentice motor mechanic for Purnell Brothers, and then was very fortunate and in the right place at the right time, and was promoted very quickly to service manager at the age of 24,” Mr Startari told GoAuto.

“I left to go with Proton in homologation and service, and worked through all the various divisions there and was managing director at the age of 30.”

His tenure at Proton also included the CEO role of Lotus Cars Australia, which he rated as one of the “most fun” periods of the job.

While he was initially brought into Sime Darby to manage the company’s acquisition of the Citroen franchise from Ateco Automotive, Mr Startari was soon tasked with consolidating Sime Darby’s complete automotive portfolio, including Peugeot, Citroen and the just-launched DS, both here and in New Zealand.

“Obviously I took the business from the people before me who had already put things in play, so I continued those and continued the improvement, and now I can hopefully hand it over to somebody to continue it on,” he said.

Mr Startari oversaw a large-scale internal makeover of Sime Darby’s automotive business, implanting cost-saving measures across internal processes, streamlining both the Citroen and Peugeot model lines and overseeing a management restructure.

“We’ve made the hard decisions on product now,” he said.

Citroen’s sales grew 10 per cent from 2013 to 2014 – from 1180 to 1307 units – and is currently trading at 4.5 per cent below last year’s mark at 900 sales, on the back of a rationalisation of its line-up.

Peugeot, meanwhile, missed its 2013 mark of 4413 vehicles by just 19 units in 2014. Sales are currently down 2.4 per cent this year at 3223 units, hampered by the loss of its commercial vehicle lines, which are expected to return in 2016.

“The product coming through is fantastic, and that’s what made this decision very, very hard, because I can see what’s coming in 2016,” he said.

“By 2017 and 2018, I think you’re going to see a totally different business – and all of that takes planning in the early stages. I’m really encouraged by, on the Peugeot side, the new 308, 508 and 208, and on the Citroen side it is getting to its roots again, and I think it’s going to resonate.”

While Mr Startari was coy about his new role, he acknowledged he would initially return to his own automotive consulting business that the married father of three formed prior to starting at Sime Darby.

“I think it’s something I’ve always wanted to do, and the opportunity presented itself three years ago, and I elected to get in on this route,” he said. “They say lightning doesn’t strike twice, but I was fortunate, and it did, and I thought now’s the time to do is because, if I don’t, I’ll never have the opportunity again.”

Even after 30 years in the industry, Mr Startari has not closed the door on a return to a mainline automotive career.

“You can never say never. (The new role) is a big risk for me. It’s totally different. I don’t know how I’m going to go,” he said. “I’m going to back myself, but if it doesn’t work out, obviously I’ll come back, but hopefully, it does, and I can make a transition to my retirement in that new position.”

It is understood that the search for a replacement for Mr Startari – who has indicated that he will assist with the transition process – is well advanced, and an announcement is expected shortly.

By Tim Robson

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