Maserati names best dealership staff

MASERATI Australia recently celebrated the achievements of its highest-performing dealership staff at an awards ceremony in Sydney.

Presented by Maserati Australia COO Glen Sealey at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney last month, just prior to restrictions being placed on public gatherings, Maserati’s local awards recognise dealership staff rather than retail outlets as a whole across its small, exclusive national network that has representation in Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.

Maserati Gold Coast’s James Staniforth was named 2019 Sales Manager of the Year, while Maserati Melbourne’s Leo Kao took out the 2019 Sales Executive of the Year award.

Adriano Giorgi from McCarroll’s Maserati in Sydney picked up the 2019 After Sales Manager of the Year award, which now sits alongside the equivalent trophy he subsequently won in Ferrari Australasia’s separate retail incentive program, while Maserati Melbourne’s Isabella Kerr was named 2019 Marketing Manager of the Year.

Ms Kerr has since left the dealership to become marketing manager at Ferrari Melbourne, but was honoured to receive recognition for her efforts with Maserati last year, saying “I like to think that whatever job I am given, I give it my all and it’s great to see that hard work pays off”.

“If you love what you do, then it never feels like work,” she added.

In receiving his award, Mr Giorgi described it as an honour for the entire dealership, not just himself.

“We are overwhelmed and extremely honoured to receive this award once again. Great things in business are never done by one person – they’re done by a team of people,” he said.

As GoAuto has reported, Maserati Australia – which is run through independent distributor European Automotive Imports (EAI), part of the Ateco Group – recently took control of its retail operations in Melbourne, which was previously managed by Zagame Automotive.

Last year, the Italian sports-luxury marque sold 482 vehicles across its Australian network, most of those attributed to the Levante SUV (301), although in overall terms Maserati’s volume was down 25 per cent (160 units) compared to 2018.

The trident brand is holding firm after the first quarter of trading this year, its 117 sales marking a rise of 0.9 per cent (one unit) compared to the same period in 2018, but the effects of the coronavirus epidemic are sure to push its sales down as orders placed before the crisis escalated in Australia are fulfilled and slowing showroom traffic continues to be reflected in the monthly figures.

Maserati’s sales were down 31.1 per cent last month (to 31 units) after a positive result in February, when 59 new registrations were recorded (+55.3%).