Mr Lederer steps into a role vacated by former Genesis Motors Australia general manager Peter Evans, who departed in late April with just weeks to go before Genesis was due to officially transition from high-end Hyundai model line to standalone luxury car brand in June.
Overseeing everything at Genesis from sales, marketing and retail development to aftersales, Mr Lederer will draw on the considerable experience he gained at BMW’s local headquarters in Melbourne including finance, product planning and sales.
In his most recent role as BMW Australia’s general manager of sales channel development, Mr Lederer masterminded the Bavarian brand’s s hi-tech flagship dealership in Sydney.
This achievement is of interest to Genesis as it works to follow up the much-delayed opening of its prominent boutique-like ‘studio’ showroom in Sydney’s Pitt Street mall with at least 10 similar outlets planned, starting with Melbourne, south-east Queensland and Perth.
Mr Lederer said he was looking forward to the challenge of “establishing Korea’s first true luxury automotive brand here in Australia”.
He joined BMW Group Australia in 1994 as a financial analyst before taking on product management for the BMW passenger car range in 1999. In 2006 he moved to management of product and market planning with responsibility for all BMW and Mini model lines, including those customised under the BMW Individual program.
In 2008 Mr Lederer progressed to sales operations manager and helped BMW prepare for navigation through the global financial crisis. Little more than a year later he became general manager of sales before taking responsibility for sales channel development in mid-2011, a role he held for more than seven years before making the leap to Genesis.
Coinciding with the opening of its Sydney studio in late June, Genesis launched the G70 sedan that is pitched against the Audi A4, BMW 3 Series, Jaguar XE, Lexus IS and Mercedes-Benz C-Class.
A refreshed version of the Hyundai Genesis, rebadged G80, was introduced at the same time but will be replaced next year with an all-new model that will better contend with the Audi A6, BMW 5 Series, Jaguar XF, Lexus GS and Mercedes E-Class.
The brand has also secured right-hand-drive production for all future models, including its first SUV, which will be quickly accompanied by another high-riding model and followed up around 2021 with electric vehicles.
Mr Lederer said the company’s aim was “to eventually offer alternative propulsion in all segments of our product portfolio”.
“With such a diverse range of impressive new products it really is an exciting time to be joining the brand,” he said.
By Haitham Razagui
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