Hitachi Capital
Nigel Stansfield has been appointed as strategic relationship manager at the growing motor finance arm of Hitachi Capital Consumer Finance, which has now formally appointed Mark Baird as leader of the division. Baird will lead Hitachi Motor Finance and be responsible for directing strategy and meeting business objectives.
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Stansfield, who has more than ten years’ experience at Barclays Partner Finance and Citroën Financial Services, will manage existing relationships, as well as taking responsibility for acquiring new ones.
Hitachi announced its intention to enter the UK motor finance market in May 2012, calling the sector an "integral part" of the group’s overall UK strategy, with ambitions to grow it into a business lending £300m a year within the next few years.
Hitachi Capital Consumer Finance as a whole is projected to lend more than £1.1bn in the UK by the end of the current financial year.
CAP Automotive
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By GlobalDataCar valuation company CAP Automotive has appointed Adrian Rushmore to the role of operations director. The appointment follows the acquisition of CAP by Montagu Private Equity and the launch of Black Book Live, both in May 2012.
As operations director he will oversee the quality of CAP’s products, have significant input into the development of new products and services and will also assume overall responsibility for developing CAP’s current and forecast valuations and technical data.
Rushmore joins CAP after 26 years with Glass’s Information Services, where he spent the past 12 years as managing editor.
ALD Automotive
The UK division of ALD Automotive, the fleet arm of Société Générale has appointed Mel Dawson as managing director. Dawson, who takes over the role from Keith Allen, joined ALD in 1997 as commercial director and became sales director in 2005. He will report to Tim Albertsen, deputy chief executive of ALD International.
Mike Masterson, chief executive of ALD International stressed the company was keen to make an internal appointment.
Currently administering a fleet of more than 35,000 vehicles, ALD launched a joint venture with Lombard in July 2012 to run the Royal Bank of Scotland subsidiary’s fleet operations.
In addition to running the UK operation, Dawson joins the G8 management team of ALD International, comprising the group’s largest operating subsidiaries, with responsibility for developing operational and commercial strategy across Europe.
Keith Allen, who led ALD in the UK for 13 years, has joined fleet management company ARI Fleet UK as managing director.
Hyundai
Reflecting the brand’s growth in company sales, Hyundai Motor UK has created the post of fleet director, responsible for
contract hire, remarketing, government contracts and fleet sales, to which it has appointed Martin Wilson.
Wilson’s CV includes four years at Lombard’s motor finance division; time at Jaguar Financial Services as zone manager, corporate development manager at Jaguar Land Rover, and then corporate sales manager; before joining Hyundai in 2007 as regional corporate sales manager. Wilson has also worked for the brand as regional franchising manager, regional sales manager, European fleet sales manager (at Hyundai Motor Europe), and national fleet sales manager.
The company has reported a 40% year-on-year increase in fleet sales for 2012 and Tony Whitehorn, president and chief executive at Hyundai Motor UK, has declared the brand is a "major player in the UK fleet market". The UK now accounts for 17% of the South Korean brand’s new sales in Europe.
Vauxhall/Opel
Steve Caitlin has been promoted from national retail sales manager to retail sales director at Vauxhall and replaces Rory Harvey, who has been promoted to executive director of sales at Opel Western Europe. After 13 years at Vauxhall working in marketing, retail and fleet, Caitlin will now report to Duncan Aldred, chairman and managing director of the brand.
Harvey, who has worked for Vauxhall and Opel parent General Motors since 1989, will now manage national sales for the Germany-based brand in Italy, France, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Greece and
Portugal.
Seat
Seat UK, part of Volkswagen Group, has appointed Neil Williamson as director. Williamson joins from Mercedes-Benz Retail Group, holding previous experience in the UK and abroad with Nissan, and replaces Peter Wyhinny, who leaves after six years to become director of Seat Italy.
Under Wyhinny, Seat posted "a period of record sales and market share", according to a company statement. Capitalising on its recovery in the UK since dropping sales after 2007, the brand opened seven franchised forecourts around the turn of 2011-2012.
