Officially starting May 1, Mr Maynard replaces Justin Hocevar, who had held the position for just over two years and came to JLR after previously serving as managing director of Renault Australia.

JLR Australia said Mr Maynard is currently transitioning between the customer service and sales functions, and that a replacement for the customer service director role will be the subject of a future announcement.

As well as making a “significant contribution to the success of the customer service division”, Mr Maynard served for six months as acting sales director from late 2017 when Andrew Phillips left the company.

He subsequently handed over to Mr Hocevar in March 2018.

JLR Australia managing director Mark Cameron said Mr Maynard “brings with him into the new role a deep understanding of JLRA at a senior level and also commands great respect from our retailer network”.

Mr Maynard said he was looking forward to the new role, which he enters in unprecedented times with the coronavirus epidemic throwing the industry into turmoil.

“This industry challenges, rewards and inspires like no other and I feel fortunate to have worked in and around it for 28 years,” he said.

“However, we have not seen conditions such as those that currently prevail.

“I look forward to doing all that I can in making a contribution to the JLRA network and to assist Mark Cameron in leading our business through the next period and then into the future.”

Mr Maynard has led JLR’s customer service division since 2017, when he replaced Chris Lidis and shifted to the British car-maker after almost 12 years at Audi Australia.

Many of those years at Audi were spent in sales positions, rising through the ranks at the German prestige brand in areas such as regional sales, regional aftersales and ultimately general manager of sales nationally.

Earlier in his career, Mr Maynard spent five years as service manager at Stevenson Automotive Group in Launceston, Tasmania.

Jaguar recorded 2274 sales last year, which marked a 15.1 per cent downturn on 2018, while Land Rover managed 8879 new registrations (-12.0%).

By Terry Martin