International Motors names William Brown as new managing director

William Brown has become the managing director of International Motors, as part of wider managerial restructure at the automotive distributor.

Brown was formerly the managing director for International Motors’ Isuzu division, where he led the pick-up brand to achieve a milestone registrations figure of 50,000 units in 2022.

International Motors is now actively looking to expand its automotive business in 2023 and beyond – offering its distributor services and automotive expertise to additional brands looking to enhance their operations.

Brown said: “As a business, we understand that the automotive landscape has changed and continues to evolve, this can be both a challenge and an opportunity for manufacturers. IML’s new strategic focus is to provide a support structure for manufacturers that helps them tailor a solution to perfectly address their unique market challenges, while leveraging our infrastructure and expertise to maximise opportunity.”

The management changes also see Toby Marshall appointed as managing director for the group’s new GWM Ora brand.

Marshall, formerly of Mitsubishi Motors UK, was appointed as sales and marketing director for the electric-vehicle brand in October 2021. GWM Ora is aiming to open 16 retail locations by the end of 2023.

The brand currently has seven sales and service hubs, plus an additional 13 service centres across the UK and Northern Ireland, operated by Peter Vardy, Wessex Garages, Lookers Group, Chorley Group, City West Country, and Charles Hurst Group.

Marshall said: “This exciting new brand is a perfect of example of how IML can add value to manufacturers, cutting out the massive costs associated with a direct route to market approach. Our in-house team of experts have years of experience working with both established brands and start-ups which means we’ve got the market knowledge and resource to launch and manage brands efficiently.”

Following the launch of GWM Ora, International Motors has managed the UK launch of Subaru’s new all-electric SUV, the Solterra. It provided brand management, consultancy and strategic product development across multiple markets to Subaru.

Alan Able, previously brand director for Isuzu UK, will now assume the role of managing director for the brand.