Volvo Australia president, Peter Voorhoeve’s success in running the company for the past five years has been rewarded with the announcement that he will become the new president of Volvo Group North America from 1st September this year.
Voorhoeve will be replaced as president of Volvo Group Australia by Martin Merrick who comes to the job after a 30 year career with Volvo.
Martin Merrick will also take up his new role on the 1st September following the move from his current position as senior vice president for retail development for Volvo Trucks in Sweden,where he has been responsible for delivering a premium retail customer experience through the dealer network, driving digital transformation, and developing competence to match the needs of the retail operations.
In announcing the appointments, senior vice president of Volvo Trucks International, Heléne Mellquist said Australia and New Zealand are strong markets for Volvo Group, which have flourished under Mr. Voorhoeve’s leadership.
“Peter has been unrelenting in his commitment to ‘ service,service,service’, and his absolute customer-focused approach has been crucial to the Group’s success in Australia and New Zealand,” she said.
“His appointment to lead Volvo Group North America is a demonstration of our confidence in his ability to understand and develop a market, and we whole heartedly thank him for the hard work and great results that he has achieved in Australia and NewZealand over the past five years.”
Mr. Voorhoeve has thanked the local team for its support during his leadership of Volvo Group Australia, and acknowledged their commitment to upholding the Group’s customer-focused service mantra.
“Australia has been my second home for many years now and I will miss the talented and loyal team at Volvo Group Australia. We have worked very hard together to grow and maintain our market leadership, and I know that Martin Merrick’s experience and focus on the customer will continue to drive the Group’s success,” Mr Voorhoeve said.
“I am also very pleased that one of my last tasks in this role will be to open the fantastic new national headquarters for Volvo Group Australia, which will give the Group the base to grow market share even further and provide outstanding service for our customers.I wish Martin and the team every success.”
Heléne Mellquist said that Martin Merrick brings an incredible wealth of knowledge and experience, having started his involvement with Volvo from the outset of his career in sales while working in a Volvo truck and bus dealership in Scotland.
“This early grounding means he fundamentally understands the needs of our customers, which he has translated to drive in valuable customer-focused initiatives in his numerous leadership roles at Volvo,” said Heléne Mellquist
“His appointment to lead Volvo Group Australia will build on the market-leading results already achieved in Australia and New Zealand. We look forward to Martin bringing his in-depth industry knowledge and rich customer insight to further grow these crucial markets,” she added.
Commenting on his appointment Martin Merrick acknowledged the unique competitiveness of Volvo Group Australia and the opportunities presented by the underlying local market strength.
“Like many colleagues at Volvo, I have kept a close eye on what has been happening in Australia and New Zealand as they continue to be lead markets for us in areas such as R&D, particularly in developing products to suit the quite unique needs of local customers,” Merrick said.
“Without a doubt the key to Volvo Group Australia’s success has been its drive to work in close partnership with its customers, and I look forward to continuing to build on the Group’s achievements with the support of a great local team around me.”
Martin Merrick started his career with Volvo as a service receptionist at a Volvo dealership in Scotland before moving into sales and then joining Volvo Scotland as aftermarket manager rising to general manager in 1998. Following roles as aftermarket sales director and aftermarket director at the Volvo Truck and Bus Centre Scotland, In 2008 Merrick was appointed regional managing director for Volvo Truck and Bus Centre North in England and Scotland and took up his current position as senior vice president of retail development Volvo Trucks Sweden in 2016.
Under Peter Voorhoeve’s stewardship, Volvo Group Australia has experienced strong growth in and at the end of 2017 the combined market share of Volvo, Mack and UD Trucks was 27.2 per cent. It is the only local truck manufacturer with ‘Made in Australia’ certification, and since operations began in 1972 more than 60,000 trucks have been produced at the Group’s factory in Wacol, Queensland.
