BMW North America has imported a new marketing VP from the automaker’s global headquarters in Munich to replace Trudy Hardy, who is taking a job at the company’s motorcycle division.
Uwe Dreher, a German-educated, 17-year veteran of the BMW Group, will oversee all U.S. marketing and product planning beginning July 1. He most recently worked at BMW’s central marketing department in Munich, where he held a VP title overseeing the BMW brand as well as the automaker’s electric vehicle sub-brand, known as “BMW i,” and its racing brand, dubbed “BMW M.”
Hardy becomes VP for BMW Motorrad of the Americas. The reassignment, which was announced earlier this month, gives her oversight of the motorcycle division in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Latin America. Hardy, whom the company described as an avid motorcycle rider, had served as North American marketing VP since 2013. Last year she oversaw the hiring of Omnicom’s Goodby, Silverstein & Partners as BMW’s lead U.S. creative agency, replacing MDC Partners-owned KBS (which has since been folded into Forsman & Bodenfors).
"We thank Trudy for all her great work over the years and are excited to welcome Uwe to the U.S., one of the biggest BMW markets in the world, to build upon that momentum,” Bernhard Kuhnt, president and CEO of BMW of North America, said in a statement today. “His passion for the brand, combined with his varied global marketing experience makes him a great addition to our leadership team. As BMW continues the largest product offensive in our history, we look forward to working together with Uwe to further sharpen our customer focus and solidify our brand position.”
Dreher takes over as BMW enjoys some sales momentum in the U.S., boosted by strong performances from its crossover vehicles. The automaker grew sales by 1.4 percent in April to 23,816 vehicles, besting luxury rival Mercedes-Benz, whose sales dropped 16 percent to 22,949 vehicles, according to Automotive News. If the trend continues, BMW could dethrone Mercedes as the U.S. luxury leader, a position it has held for the past three years. As of April, BMW held a 3,584 vehicle lead over Mercedes for the year, according to Automotive News.
