Opportunity knocks: Edward Butler says he is excited by the opportunity to play a key role in turning around Nissan’s sales in Australia, describing the Japanese brand as “one of the big opportunities” among the top industry players.

NISSAN Australia has hired former Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) Australia sales boss Edward Butler as its new sales director and former Holden marketing chief Geraldine Davys as director of marketing.

Mr Butler officially starts in the role next Wednesday, February 21, and is set to play a pivotal role in Nissan’s quest to turn around its sales in Australia, which fell 15.3 per cent last year as the Japanese brand bore the brunt of earlier decisions to cut various models from its line-up.

He told GoAuto that he was looking forward to the challenge and believes Nissan has plenty of scope for growth as it embarks of a turnaround strategy under recently appointed managing director and CEO Stephen Lester.

“Obviously, I’m very happy (with the appointment) – it’s a top 10 brand – I think they’ve got a sensational line-up of SUVs and their electrification is more advanced than most companies and that’s obviously something we’re going to see more of over the next five-plus years,” Mr Butler said.

“I like challenges, and I think, quite honestly, if you look at the top 10, Nissan’s one of the big opportunities.”

Nissan Australia previously had sales and marketing as the responsibility of a single director – Chris Mandile – but he left in June last year and, since then, eastern region general manager (NSW/ACT) Ben Hamilton has been acting sales director while brand and communications general manager Rebecca Williams stepped in as acting director of marketing.

Mr Butler spent only about a year at FCA Australia, filling the sales function left vacant when Robert Graczyk returned to the United States a few months earlier to become director of Ram International.

An Australian citizen who was born in the UK, Mr Butler has almost 30 years’ industry experience in Australia and abroad, previously serving for three years at Audi AG in Taiwan – initially as marketing director but later as sales director – and, before that, spending a decade in senior management positions with independent distributor Ateco Automotive and its subsidiary European Automotive Imports.

The latter included roles such as general manager of Kia Australia – when Ateco was responsible for the Korean brand – and head of Maserati in both Australia and New Zealand from 2005 to 2010.

He also took on responsibility for Fiat and Alfa Romeo when these brands, too, were part of the Ateco stable, and later transferred into the group’s retail operations as dealer principal of Ferrari Maserati Sydney.

Geraldine Davys

Earlier in his career, Mr Butler spent three years as sales and marketing director for General Motors in South Korea, and in the late 1990s served for three years as Asia-Pacific regional sales manager for Saab Automobile (then part of GM).

He also worked for GM in Germany and the Middle East.

As previously reported, Mr Butler told GoAuto last month that he had left FCA Australia on amicable terms in the New Year when presented with the Nissan opportunity.

FCA Australia has subsequently appointed former Renault Australia sales director Mark Palavestra as Mr Butler’s replacement.

Meanwhile, Ms Davys will officially start with Nissan on February 27, returning to the motor vehicle industry after a brief stint with GM Holden a couple of years ago.

She spent just 15 months at Holden, replacing Bill Mott and serving as executive director of marketing, product and customer experience from April 2015 to July 2016, before electing to return to her previous senior marketing role at online comparison service iSelect.

She was eventually replaced at Holden by Mark Harland.

Prior to her first appointment at iSelect around September 2013, Ms Davys spent nine years with Sensis (Telstra Media), the last four of which were in the capacity of group manager of brand, marketing and digital communications.

She has also worked in senior positions at Westpac and Andersen Business Consulting.

By Terry Martin