New challenge: After six years working in fleet roles with a German automotive brand, Jonathon Cooper has moved to Fleetcare as general manager of sales.

FLEETCARE, Australia’s largest independent fleet management company, has appointed Jonathon Cooper as general manager of sales, effective immediately.

Mr Cooper joins Fleetcare at its Sydney office after holding several roles at Volkswagen Group Australia (VGA) during a six-year tenure.

From his first day until his last, Mr Cooper served as VGA’s national fleet sales manager. He was also national sales manager in his first year, while his final five years were concurrently seen out as fleet strategy manager.

According to Mr Cooper, his “main priority (as general manager of sales) is to provide a strategic focus while meeting the business sales objectives of Fleetcare”, adding that he wants to “have a strong sales team that is engaged, capable and has every opportunity to succeed”.

“(I want to) lead and support that team by providing a roadmap and vision for success (and) support the executive team to focus on the strategic growth goals of Fleetcare,” he said.

Mr Cooper indicated “there are two trends I see that will shape the future of fleet management: the evolving change to the market with the introduction of electric vehicles … (and) the era of convenience and subscription”.

“There is a willingness to pay a flat fee for the use of motor vehicles coupled with the declining desire to own vehicles. Customers are looking for suppliers to take away the friction at every touch point,” he said.

“Business is rapidly changing and service providers are now required to be agile and adapt quickly to these future trends by providing a bespoke mobility service.”

Prior to VGA, Mr Cooper entered the fleet industry when he took up a sales management position at one of Australia’s major commercial finance and leasing providers, Orix Australia, in November 2006.

As such, Mr Cooper’s professional career started outside the automotive industry, where he was an accountant for nine years, which included a six-year stint at Greif Australia as finance manager.

By Justin Hilliard