AUTOMOTIVE engineering company Premcar has appointed Craig Clarke as its first chief operating officer COO.

The experienced automotive industry executive is charged with leading and managing Premcar’s total engineering and manufacturing operations across the company’s two vehicle development and assembly sites in Epping on Melbourne’s northern fringe.

Mr Clarke’s leadership and management position was created as a result of Premcar’s continued growth, driven by increases in new-vehicle engineering projects and burgeoning secondary manufacturing operations for global car-makers, as well as overseas expansion.

Craig Clarke

“Premcar entered a new level of business growth in 2023 and this year will be even bigger,” said Premcar engineering director and co-owner Bernie Quinn.

“Various car-makers have tasked the Premcar team with delivering more long-term engineering and manufacturing projects so appointing Craig Clarke, a highly experienced auto industry leader and manager, is a logical step to ensure they get the success they expect from our team.”

Mr Clarke’s experience includes a senior Asia Pacific executive role at Nissan Motor Company, before which he held management positions at Cox Automotive, including its Manheim division and tyre company Goodyear-Dunlop.

Premcar recently opened an additional new-vehicle assembly plant in Melbourne for secondary manufacturing that was established to meet growing local customer demand for the Premcar-enhanced Nissan Navara Warrior ute and Nissan Patrol Warrior upper large SUV.

The company engineered and developed both of these Nissan 4×4 models specifically for Australia’s unique driving conditions.

Premcar has also indicated an interest in applying the Warrior treatment to other Nissan models including the X-Trail medium SUV and Pathfinder large SUV.

The Gateway Bronco Luxe-GT that debuted at last year’s Monterey Car Week featured custom chassis, suspension and steering work by Premcar, underpinning the 1960s Ford Bronco-inspired model with a modern tech to go with the Ford Coyote V8, 10-speed automatic transmission and four-wheel-drive system with on-the-fly mode switching.

With a client base spanning Australia, China, Europe, Japan and the United States, Premcar is also involved with electric vehicle conversions and contributes to new vehicle development programs, as well as providing engineering services to the defence and aerospace sectors.