COX Automotive Australia has strengthened its business units with the appointment and promotion of a further four senior executives.

It said the appointments and promotions continue the ongoing rejuvenation of Cox Automotive Australia’s business units, with an eye to service delivery and customer satisfaction as it seeks even greater understanding of its customers’ changing needs in a rapidly evolving and dynamic industry.

The leading retail software, data, and vehicle services organisation’s latest round of highly credentialed appointments demonstrates an ongoing commitment to strategic growth and the realisation of greater efficiency.

The appointments include the promotion of current national manager of Enterprise Partnerships, Anthony Poci, who now takes on an expanded role as head of Fleet, Government, Rental and Corporate across the Enterprise portfolio.

The broadened remit signals Cox Automotive Australia’s commitment to growing in each of these important segments across its Remarketing and Vehicle Solutions (RVS), and Retail Data Solutions (RDS) business units.

Mr Poci has been with the company for 13 years and has a proven track record of both building and maintaining key industry relationships.

Before heading up Cox’s Enterprise Partnerships, he most recently served as Manheim Australia’s general manager for Victoria and Tasmania.

Cox general manager Enterprise Sales, Shakira Loveridge, said: “It has been widely acknowledged across the business the exceptional results Anthony has achieved, most notably this year in our Fleet segment and I have every confidence he will be able to do the same within his extended remit.”

Cox will further enhance the Enterprise Sales leadership team with the appointment of Justin Richards as head of Financier and Insurance, responsible for identifying and securing new business growth in these sectors and progressively building out a high-performance team that capitalises on growing opportunities.

Mr Richards brings to the business more than 15 years of relevant experience across these channels, working with premium automotive OEMs as well as organisations focused on motorcycle and marine distribution.

Ms Loveridge said: “His extensive experience in business development and relationship management roles has Justin well placed to understand not only our customers’ needs but how we can best position ourselves to be a leader in these segments.”

“This appointment demonstrates the dedicated focus on both the Financier and Insurance segments within the Australian market and we look forward to welcoming the new opportunities this presents for our organisation.”

In further appointment news, Brenton Barnes takes on the newly created role of manager – Performance Improvement for the RVS vertical, which includes the Manheim and Sell My Car brands.

He moves across from his previous role in Business Strategy and Transformation, focused on longer-term strategic investments.

In almost 10 years at Cox, Mr Barnes has also served as product manager and as head of Business Improvement, giving him broad exposure to most parts of the Manheim and wider RVS organisation.

Cox managing director of RVS, Murray Naismith, said: “With a high level of analytical and critical thinking skills, Brenton is well regarded for his rigour; his fact- and data-based approach to analysis; and his strong project management skills.”

“Known to most team members in RVS, and with an extensive knowledge of our systems and processes, I know Brenton will provide impetus and horsepower as we transition to meet the growing demands and expectations of our customers and shifting market dynamics.”

Joining the CAA family is Pauline Wong, as commercial manager for Retail and Data Solutions (RDS). The RDS business unit encompasses retail software solutions which help customers with lead generation, lead optimisation, showroom conversion, and customer retention.

In this newly created role, Ms Wong will work with RDS managing director Kirzsten Pountney and the wider RDS senior leadership team, to support the delivery of commercial outcomes, identify opportunities to improve processes, and seek out new opportunities by monitoring trends emerging both locally and globally.

Ms Wong brings deep knowledge of automotive OEMs, with her most recent role being sales operations manager at EV truck manufacturer SEA Electric.

Prior to this she was national corporate sales manager at Audi Australia and has held various management roles at Toyota Australia across an almost 16-year tenure.

Kirzsten Pountney said: “Our investment in this role reflects the importance we place on the continued development of commercial relationships with industry participants to deliver integrations which will empower our customers to thrive in a changing retail landscape.

“Pauline has the tenacity, collaborative engagement style, and analytical thinking that will help us make the right strategic decisions today for tomorrow.”

This round of four senior appointments complements a trio of additional recent hires across the Cox business, including the recruitment of experienced trio Nishant Shukla as head of Customer Experience, Wayne Oats as head of Dealer, and Heath Stubbs as head of OEM Partnerships.

The ongoing strategic investment into high-level talent demonstrates the company’s commitment to continual improvement across its array of products and services, led by Cox Automotive Australia and New Zealand managing director Stephen Lester.

Cox Automotive Australia is part of Cox Automotive, a world-leading automotive services and market insights organisation with an influential presence across North America and the UK.

By Neil Dowling