Facing any number of challenges, BMW has elected to turnover responsibility for the company’s image to an executive from outside the automobile industry.
Pieter Nota will join the Board of Management of BMW AG as the head the division responsible for sales and brand BMW as well as aftersales for the BMW Group on Jan. 1, 2018. Nota’s background is in marketing across a variety of non-automotive industries.
The changeover comes at a time when BMW is facing slowing sales in the U.S., aggressive competition in China, crimped sales of electric vehicles and a global shift away from passenger cars where it has always been strong to sport utility vehicles and crossover.
The 52-year-old Nota moves to the BMW Group from Royal Philips. Born in the Netherlands, he is currently Philips’ Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President for “Personal Health,” the company’s consumer products and solutions business segment.
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Prior to that, Nota was on the Board of Management of Beiersdorf AG as Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer and previously held various management functions with Unilever in the U.K., Germany, the Netherlands and Poland.
“With Pieter Nota we are able to attain an experienced sales and marketing expert with an international profile,” Harald Krüger, chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, said in a release.
“I am convinced that his proven track record in innovation and transformation will continue to lead our core brand BMW and its products through the future of connected mobility.”
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Nota will take over from Ian Robertson, the veteran executive who has headed up BMW sales operations for more than a decade.
Following the hand-over to Nota, Robertson, current Board of Management member for BMW sales, will continue to serve the company as a special representative of the BMW Group in the UK, before retiring June 30, 2018.
“For almost a decade on the Board of Management of BMW AG, Ian Robertson has shaped the image and future direction of the BMW brand and the BMW i and BMW M sub-brands,” said Norbert Reithofer, chairman of the Supervisory Board of BMW AG.
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“Even through challenging economic times, he enabled the continuous growth of the company by achieving one sales record after the other. I would like to thank him for his accomplishments and am pleased that he will remain with the company as a BMW Group Ambassador for the UK, one of our most important markets and production locations.”
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