October 2021

OCTOBER 2021 AFTERMARKET 65 EYEBROW www.aftermarketonline.net Martin Klein has been named as Schaeffler’s first Sales Manager for Central Europe, Middle East and Africa, and is responsible for activities in 44 countries. He will also take over the from Stefan Knaack, Vice President Global Key Account Management Schaeffler Automotive Aftermarket, who has been responsible for the Western Europe region, which includes Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the Benelux countries. Previously, Martin was Managing Director and Executive Vice President for the Euro-Russia business units at MOTUL. In his new role, he reports directly to Sascha Lechner, President Automotive Aftermarket EMEA. Martin observed "Our goal is to provide our customers with the best support possible when facing upcoming challenges such as technological change and digitisation. Therefore, we are intensifying our collaboration with our customers to understand their respective requirements and needs even better and to derive tailored solutions.” Commenting on Martin’s appointment to the new role, Sascha Lechner, President Automotive Aftermarket EMEA, said: “With Martin Klein, we have gained an internationally experienced and customer-oriented sales manager who will lead our business in an even more focused and efficient way.” Automotive career scheme appoints first Ambassador Samantha Anscombe, a Parts Advisor at Sytner and one of the winners at the Autocar’s Great Women Rising Stars awards has become the first Ambassador for Drive My Career, the employment initiative developed by the NFDA to help dealers attract and retain candidates. Samantha started as an apprentice with Sytner in 2017 and won Mercedes-Benz’s apprentice of the year in 2020. She has also just started a university degree course in psychology and counselling. Commenting on her new Ambassador role, Samantha said: “I am beyond grateful for the opportunity Drive My Career has offered me. Being an Ambassador of something I am so passionate about is very exciting, I cannot wait to learn more about how the other side of this industry works and I look forward to starting to collaborate with the team”. NFDA Chief Executive Sue Robinson added: “Our success stories have been instrumental in promoting the automotive industry to young people and we look forward to developing our new Ambassador Scheme to give further exposure to our colleagues’ inspiring careers. A huge welcome to Samantha as our first Ambassador and thanks to Sytner for their continued support.” For more information visit www.drivemycareer.co.uk Schaeffler creates new Sales Manager role Social media key for new MAHA Regional Sales Executive MAHA UK’s Regional Sales Executive Luke Fuller was appointed during 2020, and has been reflecting on what it was like to join the company at the height of the pandemic: “As I was new to the business, my day and sales technique revolved around calling companies and introducing myself. I managed to quote several clients this way, which led to some sales. I also did a lot of canvassing on LinkedIn. I found this approach much more effective.” Luke joined MAHA after returning to Cambridge from the North-East: “I oversaw both sales and workshop teams, but it was the workshop side of the business that perked my interest, so when I moved back down south and became aware of the job opening at MAHA, I was eager to grab the opportunity. He added: “Visiting customers, seeing the equipment installed and asking for feedback, I’m yet to hear a bad word about the quality of the product; in fact, I’ve actually experienced a couple of scenarios where equipment has been installed, then that same customer will call me up and ask if we can supply and install equipment to replace their existing set-up – that’s the level of respect MAHA UK has in this industry.”