MATT Bristow is the man chosen to replace Steve Chater as corporate sales general manager at BMW.

Chater, who oversaw BMW’s corporate involvement with London 2012 – which included running the London Marathon – is moving on to become general manager, product and market planning for both the BMW and BMW i brands.

“I’ve enjoyed my time in corporate sales immensely,” said Steve Chater. “My new role will still have a corporate aspect as I shall be planning future models with an eye on their company car and corporate appeal.”

Replacing Steve is Matt Bristow (38), who moves from his 2010 appointment of general manager, used cars and internal sales to his new post of corporate sales general manager.

Matt looks well qualified for the job. A chartered accountant, Matt has extensive experience in both BMW along with BMW owned BMW Financial Services and leasing company Alphabet.

“Corporate Sales is essential to our success and our dealers’ success so ensuring we give the best service to our corporate customers and leasing customers is going to be my focus.

“It’s also an exciting time to be joining the team with the growing range of BMW models offering even wider choice for fleets. I look forward to strengthening BMW’s position in the fleet sector and attracting new business customers to BMW,” commented Matt on his appointment.

Another departure from the BMW corporate team is Rob Barnes, the former contract hire operations manager is now manager, provenance and direct sales at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.