Audi India’s Michael Perschke bids goodbye, Joe King takes over as head

Mumbai, August 26, 2013: There’s a change at the helm in Audi India. Joe King is to take over as the head of Audi India, effective September 1, 2013 from Michael Perschke who will be head of network strategy and business management, at the international level, at Audi AG.

Educated at the University of Melbourne, King brings over 23 years of experience to the role, having begun his career with Toyota in 1990. He has extensive experience with both mass and premium market brands including Toyota, BMW and Audi in Australia and has experience in both retail and wholesale roles within the automotive industry.

King moves to Audi India from Audi Australia where he played an integral role in the management team of Audi Australia Pty Ltd. As general manager and dealer principal of Audi Australia’s wholly-owned retail subsidiary, Audi Centre Sydney, King was responsible, over the last four years, for the management, development and direction of the dealership operations.

From 1996 until 2009, Joe King held various roles with BMW Group Australia including managing director of BMW Sydney and GM, sales. He was also GM of sales at BMW Melbourne, along with the role of finance and insurance manager.

Perschke, who took over as Audi India’s chief in July 2010, helped aggressively drive the brand’s growth, with sales rising from 3,003 cars in 2010 to 9,003 cars in calendar 2012. The company sold 5,551 cars in the January-July 2013 period, a growth of 19 percent (January-July 2012: 4,680 cars). It recently launched the Q3 S Edition.

Photographs (L-R): Joe King and Michael Perschke.