EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW
“As Holden goes through this significant
period of change, I am committed to
ensuring that we build a future that is
worthy of our heritage,” says Mark.
Despite low sales in 2015, the Holden
lion has no plans to dull its roar, in fact
the past year has been about expanding
the company’s appeal beyond
traditional stereotypes, while staying
true to the brand’s history and heritage.
The image anchored in ‘true blue Aussie
branding’ drove decades of success but
Mark believes it requires an evolution
that better reflects the changing
Australian automotive landscape.In the face of some difficult decisions,
it has taken resilience to the evolving
marketplace to achieve the longevity
that Holden has had, and management
must once again modify business
strategies and working models to
improve customer service and
revolutionise its products. From being
the first Australian car company to
introduce seatbelts to being the first
brand in the global GM stable to use
aluminium bonnets with the current
VF Commodore, Holden has a history
of innovation.The emblem, which has been revised
several times over the past century, has
played a vital role in establishing
Holden’s identity as an incubator and a
leader in its realm. And who better to
lead the pride than Mark, who has risen
through the ranks of Holden and its
parent company, General Motors. Since
1986, Mark has held a range of strategic
roles across Australia, Europe, the US
and Asia–Pacific.“I have been with Holden for just more
than thirty years now, I spent most of
that time working through the finance
function. I started with Holden here in
Australia, and then in 1996 — ten years
later — I first moved overseas and
spent a number of years working out of
Zurich at the GM International HQ, andthen on to Detroit in Financial Planning
and Analysis supporting external
corporate and internal
communications,” says Mark.He then moved to Singapore in mid-1999
where he headed up a range of operations
for three years including mergers and
acquisitions, new product program
investments, and leading the company’s
increasing stake in the Daewoo motor
company. “In July 2002 I moved to China
to become CFO for GM, and then also
became CFO for a new joint venture
between GM and SAIC. Then I returned
home to Australia in 2007 to rejoin
Holden as CFO,” says Mark. At the time,
Holden was recognised as ‘Australia’s own’
automotive manufacturer. It was
recognised as producing the second
largest volume in the market with annualsales of about 150,000 units and annual
revenue of US$5 billion.The comfort of his homeland was
short lived, however, with the strike of
the global financial crisis the same
year. Mark helped to steer Holden
through the worst of the crisis for four
years, during which GM went through
a Chapter 11 reorganisation, selling off
assets and some of its subsidiaries
after filing for bankruptcy in the US.“That was clearly an interesting time,
going through our parent company’s
reorganisation, the GFC and the
subsequent automotive industry crisis,”
says Mark. “So I learned a lot through
that process.” After GM managed to
relaunch an IPO of stock in 2010, Mark
returned to Shanghai and resumed his