PIETER DE WAAL ONWARDS AND UPWARDS IN BMW MOTORRAD
09 October 2004 - BMW Motorrad GB

BMW Great Britain’s General Manager for motorcycles, Pieter de Waal has been headhunted by BMW’s top team in Germany and will take the helm of the Sales and Marketing departments for BMW Motorrad worldwide.

Although Pieter has only been in the UK a short time (since January 2004) he has obviously made a difference within BMW. Before moving to the UK, he managed the BMW motorcycle division in South Africa (from 1999).

During his seven-year period with BMW South Africa, the sales of motorcycles increased ten-fold. The SA subsidiary also became the first in the world to exceed over 40 per cent market share – equalling the combined market share of the top-four Japanese manufacturers. Pieter was also instrumental in introducing a lifestyle programme, which was aimed at selling motorcycles to non-bikers.

“This job is a huge challenge,” said the newly appointed Pieter de Waal, BMW Group, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for BMW Motorrad. “I want to bring enjoyment back to the people who work at BMW and create a successful and dynamic team. For me sales and marketing is about forward thinking and having vision and strategy.”

In Pieter’s new role he will be directly responsible to the President of BMW Motorrad, Dr. Herbert Diess. He will also be the first non-German to be appointed to this level within the company.

Although Pieter (originally from South Africa) has been in the UK since January, he has enjoyed his time here: “I have been really happy here. I love the job and the country, and my family have been looking forward to moving here. When I got the new job, I called my wife (in South Africa) to tell her to keep packing, but change the address on the boxes to Germany.”

Officially, Pieter will start his new role on 1 November. At the moment there is no news of who will take the reigns of the BMW Motorrad Great Britain department, although Conrad Parker (the Retail Performance Manager) will deputise until further notice.

www.bmw-motorrad.co.uk

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