Officially starting in the role on November 1, Mr McIlroy is a former manager of product strategy for MMAL – working for the triple-diamond brand from 2003 to 2005 – and will bring more than two decades’ experience to the position, including several years with Holden and more than a decade in the retail sector as proprietor and dealer principal of the McIlroy Auto Group in Victor Harbor, South Australia.
Close association: Derek McIlroy has previously worked for MMAL as product strategy manager, but for the past 12 years has run a multi-franchise retail operation – including one of the top-performing Mitsubishi dealers in Australia.
Mr McIlroy ran three dealerships in the group – Toyota, Hyundai and Mitsubishi – over a 12-year period, with the Mitsubishi franchise regularly featuring in the Japanese brand’s annual ‘distinguished dealer’ awards.
These dealerships were sold to the Northpoint Group in September last year, which now operates them under the Northpoint Fleurieu umbrella.
Earlier in his career, Mr McIlroy spent around six-and-a-half years with Holden – from mid-1996 until the end of 2002 – where he rose to operations manager (market forward planning).
He previously worked for KPMG in Brisbane as a supervising senior auditor, joining in early 1993 after graduating from the University of Queensland with a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting and Finance).
Mr McIlroy is also a qualified chartered accounted and has a Graduate Diploma in Management from the University of New South Wales.
In the new job at MMAL, Mr McIlroy will become a member of the executive management team, reporting to chief operating officer Tony Principe.
Announcing the appointment, MMAL president and CEO John Signoriello said Mr McIlroy arrives “at a critical point in our business as we are on track to achieve a record result for the brand in Australia”.
“I am excited to have Derek joining us,” he said. “He brings a wealth of experience to the role and will be instrumental in guiding our future marketing strategies to ensure we are well positioned to build on our achievements to date.
“Derek knows our business well, has worked with MMAL before and has valuable experience working in his own multi-franchise dealership for the last 12 years, which will assist us to create a stronger brand and continue to grow our business.”
Mitsubishi has defied the general new-vehicle market slowdown in Australia this year, recording 8.5 per cent year-on-year growth to the end of September with 64,468 sales.
Standout performers for the brand include the Triton ute, which currently accounts for almost 30 per cent of MMAL’s overall volume and will soon receive a further boost with a major update, along with the new Eclipse Cross and evergreen ASX small SUVs.
With Outlander, Pajero and Pajero Sport also in the mix, and Mirage soon to become its sole passenger car offering as supplies of Lancer run dry, SUVs now account for 62 per cent of Mitsubishi’s total sales.
The company is set to post an all-time record annual sales result this year, topping the 84,142 sales achieved in 1998 when it was a local manufacturer.
By Terry Martin
Read More: Related articles
