EXECUTIVE INTERVIEWposition as CFO for GM Shanghai until
2015 when he assumed the new position
of Chairman and Managing Director of
Holden Australia.
“I’ve had a diverse career, with a range
of different countries and assignments,
and many challenges.” Now Mark’s focus
is on the constantly changing
Australian motor industry, leveraging
the support and financial backing of
GM to invest in new technology, new
vehicles and expanding scale. Though
Holden Australia is ceasing local
manufacture in 2017, it will be
continuing on as an importer and
maintaining a significant global design
and engineering presence, not to
mention retaining the 10,000 people
employed across its 230-strong national
dealer network.
“Our designers and the engineers
work on both global and local
programs and the team is very well
respected internationally — and
having them here gives us somewhat
of an advantage,” says Mark. “It allows
us to continue to test, tune and
develop vehicles for Australian
customers. We get to leverage the
proving ground.” The transition away
from manufacturing follows a
fluctuation in sales, most notably a
decline in the traditional large sedan
market as the Australian market has
fragmented with record low tariffs and
a flood of international competition.“It’s certainly a very interesting
time, with the shift away from large
passenger cars and a much more
fragmented industry. Small cars are
now the largest segment in the market,
but there has also been a massive
shift towards SUVs and pickup trucks.
Customers have a lot more choice,”
says Mark. “That’s one of the key
reasons why the customer experience
becomes so central and why service has
become a differentiator.”Holden is also in the midst of the
largest and most comprehensive
overhaul of its vehicle portfolio in the
company’s history, Announcing the
release of twenty-four new vehicles by- “We are well on the path to
deliver those vehicles and we have had
a number come out already, including
the Spark, which is leading in the
micro-car segment; the Colorado, our
latest ute; and then we have the Astra
at the end of the year as well, which
has been awarded the ‘European Car
of the Year’. So we have some
fantastic products.”
Its shift to an import-only model means
less reliance on suppliers, but Holden
seeks to maintain strong partnerships,
in particular with its many dealerships.
“The dealers are the face of Holden,
they deal with our customers face-to-
face, and we need to support them
however we can to make sure they
deliver the best customer experience
possible,” Mark says. “We have more
than 10,000 employees across our
230-strong dealer network, and we’ll
have around 300 designers and
engineers. Everything pieces together
like a jigsaw puzzle, and everyone plays
a role in our success.”Holden has incurred significant
financial losses in the transition to a
full-line vehicle importer, driven by
write-downs in its manufacturing assets
and employee separation costs. But
Mark says looking after those people
affected by the closure of manufacturing
remains an overriding priority. “We are
going through a very significant
restructuring of the organisation over
the next few years, and one of the
reasons that I took on this role was to
ensure that we treated all of the
employees in the business with the
respect and dignity they deserve.”Mark says that as a leader, he remains
committed to the Holden brand and
its long-term success in Australia, and
he is honoured to lead the company
through its ongoing challenges. “We
can’t stand still, particularly as we look
at how the industry is likely to
continue evolving over the next five
years; from innovations like
autonomous vehicles, to the rise of
ride sharing. It’s going to be a very
exciting time in the industry.”“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.” - Mark Bernhard