New network development chief for Renault

RENAULT Australia has announced the appointment of Enrique Elgueta as network development manager.

Another executive with strong ties to Subaru and Peugeot/Citroen distributor and retailer Inchcape Australasia, Mr Elgueta is responsible for the “strategic development and growth of Renault Australia’s dealer network nationally, ensuring the brand has the required footprint to deliver long-term commercial objectives”.

He will work with other members of the Renault Australia leadership team, most notably managing director Anouk Poelmann and recently appointed sales and network director David Rodda – both of whom also previously worked for Inchcape – and oversee the delivery of “key financial profitability initiatives within the network”.

Mr Elgueta has considerable experience as a consultant to the automotive and mining industries, and earlier in his career spent several years at the Inchcape-owned Subaru Melbourne retail group, working in various customer-related roles and later serving as process and project manager.

As GoAuto has reported, Mr Rodda joined Renault last October from Inchcape, where he held a variety of senior positions across both OEM and retail operations – including four years as dealer principal of the Subaru Melbourne Group.

He was also franchise director for Subaru Melbourne and Trivett Peugeot and Citroen in Melbourne.

“We are excited to welcome Enrique to the Renault Australia family in what is building to be a pivotal year for Group Renault in this country,” Ms Poelmann said in a statement.

“With an all-new product line-up being rolled out over the next 12 months, the time is right for a renewed and targeted focus to be placed on the Renault dealer network and its growth and profitability in the Australia marketplace.”

Mr Elgueta said he was “looking forward to expanding the presence of the Renault brand and dealer network across Australia”.

“It is a tough landscape but I firmly believe there are many opportunities for both Renault and the dealer network to chase in Australia and I can’t wait to sink my teeth into the challenge,” he said.

Mr Elgueta’s arrival at Renault is one of a series of appointments made over the past eight months after Ms Poelmann moved from Inchcape, where she was head of the Peugeot and Citroen brands.

Among these, Felix Boulin was hired late last year as Renault Australia’s new marketing director.

He, too, is a former Inchcape executive, previously serving as commercial manager handling supplies and sales planning for Peugeot and Citroen in Australia and earlier working as product manager for the two French PSA Group brands – arch-rivals to Renault, of course.