ASTON Barclay Group has appointed new sales director David Smith, previously a leading figure for Porsche in the Middle East, to drive doubled sales over the next five years.

Following appointments of four new account managers who have already started to deliver a number of new fleet and dealer business wins – and the promotion of Robert Wittridge to national sales manager earlier in the year – this is the first time Aston Barclay has employed a direct sales team.

Returning from 10 years in the Middle East, newly-appointed sales director David Smith joins the company having most recently worked for family-run group Al Futtaim Finance as sales director, leading the company’s F&I development for its 10 automotive brands within the UAE and a further 14 brands in Oman, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia and East Africa.

Smith was also general manager of Porsche Middle East & Africa for seven years before setting up Porsche Financial Services in the Middle East on behalf of the VW Group.

He has also worked in the UK contract hire and fleet management sectors for Inchcape Fleet Solutions, GE Capital Fleet Solutions and Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions.

Smith, who will report in to new CEO Neil Hodson, commented: “With a direct sales team in place, we can better understand customer challenges and continue to develop market leading solutions on their behalf.

“Our investment in digital resources already looks set to add real value to our customers and Aston Barclay’s new reporting system will provide further insights into how we can help vendors further improve their used performance.”

Neil Hodson said: “We need the very best people in place on our management team. David’s corporate sales and F&I background gained both here and overseas will prove invaluable in helping us achieve our commitment to doubling sales over the next five years.”