Mr Benders has been appointed with immediate effect and will report to chief operating officer, Philip Waring.

He has worked for Mazda since 1985, when he joined the company as administration manager for Mazda Australia. After this he held various executive positions, including regional sales manager and national marketing director, and was instrumental in making Mazda Australia one of Mazda's strongest national sales companies.

His most recent position was general manager of the Global Marketing Division at Mazda headquarters in Japan.

'I am delighted to have Martin Benders onboard as our new vice president for Sales,' said Mr Waring. 'He has a well-deserved reputation in the motor industry for developing and implementing sales and marketing strategies that deliver outstanding results. He possesses the ability and experience to do an outstanding job managing our national sales company organisation on a daily basis, and I am confident that he will be successful at maximising our sales performance.'

Mr Benders is Australian by birth, and holds Bachelor and post-graduate degrees in Commerce from the University of Queensland (Brisbane).