MG Rover has handed the task of promoting the newly rebranded company in the UK to Steve Robertson, a former Mini brand marketer.
Robertson's most recent role was manager of Rover UK marketing. As MG Rover's UK marketing director, he will handle the carmaker's pounds 40m UK adspend and oversee its sales and marketing operations.
The appointment, which is not at board level, follows the promotion of his predecessor, John Sanders, to a global marketing role in June. Robertson, who reports to Sanders, is expected to work closely on MG Rover's plans to keep advertising production costs down, as the carmaker struggles to rebuild its brand image after its sale by BMW to the Phoenix Consortium in May.
For a press and radio campaign last month, Sanders said Rover had spent less of its budget on production and shifted it into media. He said: 'We are making a virtue out of a necessity.' The company's advertising business remains with M&C Saatchi.
This week the former Rover Group announced it was changing its name to MG Rover, in a bid to place greater emphasis on the brands the company owns. A new logo is in development, but an MG Rover spokesman said it was too early to give an indication of what it would look like.
Robertson was Mini's UK brand manager until 1998 before taking on the role of UK marketing manager. October 4 will see the last Mini Classics roll off the MG Rover line at Longbridge, after 41 years in production.
A modern version will be made by BMW at its Cowley plant in Oxford.
MG Rover is hoping to revive the MG range of sports cars, with a new model to be launched next year. The range is expected to stretch from mid-price models to high-performance vehicles. The company is also in talks with another, unnamed, car manufacturer, with a view to forming a partnership.
The Rover brand received a blow earlier this month, when a survey by Consumers' Association magazine Which? revealed that Rover owners are least happy with their cars. Figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders also showed that Rover registrations fell by 26% last month.
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