BMW Group Australia announced the winners of its annual BMW Trophy, Mini Excellence and 2021 Dealer of the Year awards at an in-person gala ceremony held in Sydney this week.

In addition to recognising the Group’s top-performing staff, the event was attended by global BMW Group management executives, including Hendrik von Kuenheim, the Munich-based brand’s senior vice president for the Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa region, in his final visit to Australia before his retirement at the end of May.

Mr. von Kuenheim was joined by his successor Jean-Phillipe Parain in his first visit to Australia, as well as Mike Wetherell, the new Regional CEO of BMW Group Financial Services for Asia Pacific. They were accompanied by BMW Group Australia executives including CEO Wolfgang Buechel, who said he was delighted to honour the achievements of the Group’s 46 national dealers.

“We were delighted to honour the achievements of our 46 BMW Group national dealers in the most appropriate manner – with all of us finally together at a special event, a fantastic venue, and with the company of our international colleagues,” said Mr Buechel.

“This was an opportunity for us to pay tribute not only to our dealers’ sales success, but their commitment to invest in the company’s brand portfolio and the creation of an elevated experience for customers while navigating turbulent retail conditions.”

BMW Group Australia’s Dealer of the Year award for 2021 was presented to Waverley BMW and Coastline Mini Garage, both of which had demonstrated success across key areas of their operations, including customer centricity, target achievement and business excellence.

Other winners included Worthington BMW as the Group’s provincial dealer of the year, Darren Saul of Auto Classic BMW in the individual honours section, and Townsville Mini Garage in the Mini Dealer of the Year category.

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CATEGORY WINNERS – BMW

Major Metro dealer of the year (winner) – Waverley BMW

Major Metro dealer of the year (runner up) – Brighton BMW

Metro dealer of the year (winner) – Hornsby BMW

Metro dealer of the year (runner up) – Motorline BMW

Provincial dealer of the year (winner) – Worthington BMW

Provincial dealer of the year (runner up) – Coastline BMW

Rural dealer of the year (winner) – Symes Motors

Rural dealer of the year (runner up) – Blacklocks Prestige

INDIVIDUAL HONOURS – BMW

Group 1 – Darren Saul – Auto Classic BMW

Group 2 – Tim Suhinin – Motorline BMW

Group 3 – Raj Fernando – Berwick BMW

Rural – Glenn Goodall – Shepparton BMW

DEALER OF THE YEAR WINNERS – MINI 

Group 4 – Townsville MINI Garage

Group 3 – Coastline MINI Garage

Group 2 – Auto Classic MINI Garage

Group 1 – Brisbane MINI Garage

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BMW Group Australia said that throughout 2021, its dealer network achieved positive sales growth across the BMW and Mini brands and a triple-digit percentage increase for electrified models.

A total of 24,891 new BMW vehicles were registered in 2021, which represented a 5.8 per cent increase on the 2020 result, while MINI achieved 3579 new vehicle registrations – a 15.3 per cent increase on the corresponding period the year before.

By Matt Brogan