He succeeds Rene Gerhard who has become director of sales at BMW Group Australia.

Mr Ross has held numerous senior management roles in the automotive industry in his homeland of South Africa and in Australia.

He was previously dealer principal of Adrian Brien Automotive in Adelaide, the franchise partners for multiple automotive brands. Prior to that he held equivalent roles for McCarthy Toyota and SMG BMW in Cape Town.

Mr Ross’ experience extends across new and used vehicles and service and repairs. He has also regularly led teams of more than 100 staff members while achieving numerous awards.

His accolades include: Dealer of the Year for Aftersales in 2010, National Dealer of the Year in 2011, National Financial Dealer of the Year in 2011, 2012 and 2013, and highest used volume dealer in South Africa in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

BMW Group Australia CEO Wolfgang Buechel said Mr Ross brings invaluable skills to BMW Sydney and Mini Garage Sydney, which is owned and operated by BMW Group and employs over 100 people across the two brands.

“Mark has an expert understanding of the dealer environment and has a proven track record of achieving excellent results consistently across all areas of automotive businesses,” Mr Buechel said.

“He will play a key role in further developing BMW Sydney and Mini Garage Sydney in the future as we continue to evolve the business for our customers in line with a fast-changing automotive landscape.

“This includes increased use of digital services to complement our day-to-day business operations and preparing our infrastructure and systems for the transition to a vehicle offering that will include a much higher proportion of electrified models from both the BMW and Mini brands.”

BMW Sydney and Mini Garage Sydney, located in Rushcutters Bay, underwent a $65 million renovation in 2019.

The state-of-the-art facility showcases a comprehensive portfolio of BMW Group vehicles across multiple levels and exclusive showroom spaces for specific model lines and brands including BMW M. There is also a separate and themed creative space for Mini.

It also features a dedicated service centre with a 46-bay workshop and 90-minute service option, as well as a public café, workspaces, and luxury lounge.

BMW Sydney was last year awarded BMW Major Metro Dealer of the Year in recognition of its sales and financial success and delivery of outstanding customer service.

By Neil Dowling