One of the key men behind BMW's successful push to the top spot in the luxury car segment here has been promoted to a new job in Kuala Lumpur.

Dennis Ho became the chief operating officer (COO) of Hyundai-Sime Darby on June 1. As COO, he will oversee the distribution of Hyundai passenger and commercial vehicles in Malaysia.

Mr Ho was previously director of sales and marketing at BMW authorised distributor Performance Motors Ltd, which is owned by Sime Darby. He joined Performance Motors on Feb 1, 2005 after leaving Cycle & Carriage as its general manager for Mercedes-Benz sales and marketing.

In 2005, BMW overtook Mercedes-Benz in total car sales for the first time,by selling 3,467 units versus 3,309 for the three-pointed star.

BMW claimed the No 8 position among members of the Motor Traders Association of Singapore (MTA), while Mercedes had to settle for No 9.

In 2006, BMW continued to power ahead, ending the year with 3,680 units against Merc's 3,182, with both maintaining the same overall MTA rankings as in the previous year.

While at Performance Motors, Mr Ho was also in charge of customer relationship management and BMW's loyalty programme. He said his happiest time there was when BMW topped the premium segment in 2005 and 2006.

'It is not just the pole positioning that we have achieved but the gratification of how the whole Performance Motors team has also evolved,responded and stayed relevant in a changing market,' he said.

He also paid tribute to the continued loyalty and support of BMW owners as well as the company's excellent business relationship with BMW Asia.

He said his new posting in Malaysia will be an opportunity for him to learn new competencies in a different market.

The position will be a three-year contract, for a start, and Mr Ho expects that some commuting will be inevitable because his family will remain in Singapore.

Alex Yap, who used to be Performance Motors' senior sales manager, has taken over from Mr Ho.