Mini appoints new GM for Australia and New Zealand

BMW Group has announced Matt Schmidt as the new General Manager of Mini Australia and New Zealand.

Effective from July 1, Schmidt will replace Brett Waudby, who will now head up BMW’s retail network and oversee sales operations for the BMW brand in Australia.

Schmidt currently works as the national BMW sales manager for operations & planning, focussing on wholesale product planning and stock management.

Part of BMW Group Australia for 17 years, Schmidt has previously been responsible for various marketing and communication roles at both the German and British marque, including brand communications manager for Mini Australia, and more recently, BMW’s i and special vehicles sales manager.

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“Brett and Matt are two experienced leaders with considerable knowledge of the BMW Group brands. They have brought important change and growth to both BMW and MINI and their expertise will be of great benefit to their new positions and their new teams,” Wolfgang Buechel, CEO of BMW Group Australia, said.

The news comes as Mini Australia celebrates a particularly prosperous period in the new car market, achieving year-to-date sales growth of 39 per cent compared to 2020 and registering 1528 new vehicles.