Car giant BMW appoints new MD to drive MidEast growth

(Bloomberg)

German car giant BMW announced on Monday that a new managing director will be appointed in February to drive growth in Middle East markets.

Johannes Seibert, previously vice president marketing for the German market, will succeed Dr Joerg Breuer as MD for BMW Group operations in the Middle East.

The change will be effective as of February 1 2014 with Breuer taking on a new leading role in the company's German market.

Commenting on Seibert's appointment, Graeme Grieve, vice president, Importer Markets, BMW Group said: "Johannes brings a depth of solid experience to the leadership role at BMW Group in the Middle East, and we are confident that his knowledge of brand and product management, and marketing expertise, will contribute to the continued business success of BMW Group in the region."

During the tenure of Breuer's leadership in the Middle East, the company witnessed double digit sales growth in the region.

2012 was a record year for sales which saw the company break the 20,000 barrier for the first time ever with 21,314 cars sold to customers, a 14 percent increase over 2011 figures.

BMW Group Middle East said in October that it was confident of achieving another record year after the company posted a 19 percent increase in sales for the third quarter of 2013 compared with the same period last year.

The company said the growth in year-to-date numbers demonstrated the "continued growth of the region's premium automotive industry and also highlight Middle East customers' appetite for luxury cars".

BMW said that a record 18,835 BMW and MINI cars has been sold to customers in the region, with

Bahrain and Kuwait leading the charge recording increases for the first nine months of 36 percent and 33 percent respectively.