Rolls-Royce hires new marketing director to accelerate global expansion

Rolls-Royce has hired ex-Audi marketer Fintan Knight as its new director of sales and marketing to lead the luxury car marque’s global expansion plans.

rolls-royce-2014-460
Rolls Royce is hiring a new marketing director to lead its global expansion

Knight began his career with BMW before spending more than 20 years working at luxury car brands including Infiniti and Lamborghini. Most recently, he spent 15 years at Audi serving as its managing director in Ireland and general manager in Asia, where he worked a number of areas including marketing.

Rolls-Royce is looking to expand into Asia, recently opening its first exhibition of the brand in Singapore as it looks to raise its profile. It has also attempted to widen its appeal through marketing, in particular with its Wraith campaign last year that aimed to make the brand more accessible to consumers.

Rolls-Royce chief executive Torsten Müller-Ötvös says: “Our brand’s global footprint has expanded dramatically over the past few years and the time has come to consolidate and build further business growth on the back of this expansion. Fintan is uniquely positioned to lead our sales and marketing team on this journey.”

Knight replaces Jolyon Nash, who is leaving Rolls-Royce to take up a post as the executive director of global sales and marketing at McLaren. He will also join the company’s board.

Nash spent five years in the top marketing role at Rolls-Royce and previously held senior marketing roles at BMW and Volkswagon. He will report into McLaren chief executive Mike Flewitt.

Flewitt says: “Jolyon brings a wealth of experience in sales and marketing developed most recently at another iconic British luxury automotive brand.  He joins McLaren at an exciting time of sales growth. Key objectives will include meeting our sales goals, the advancement of our product strategy and the continued expansion of our global retailer network.”

Recommended