Arno Husselmann, general manager of Abu Dhabi Motors.
Arno Husselmann, general manager of Abu Dhabi Motors.

Motoring

Good times just keep rolling along as dealership exceeds sales target

Arno Husselmann, the general manager of Abu Dhabi Motors, is smiling in the face of the global economic downturn, and with good reason.

Georgia Lewis

May 30, 2009

Arno Husselmann is smiling in the face of the global economic downturn, and with good reason. As general manager of Abu Dhabi Motors, the capital's distributors of Rolls-Royce, BMW and Mini, he is pleased to report that business is good. with first-quarter sales for 2009 exceeding the targets. A first-quarter target of 635 new cars was set for the showroom and by April, 809 new cars had been sold. "It was difficult from October to January - that was a tough few months," says Husselmann. But partly thanks to reducing prices by up to 15 per cent, the company is in good shape.

Husselmann feels Abu Dhabi Motors is emerging strongly from "an abnormal time across all industries". So confident is the company of continuing healthy sales, a three-phase expansion programme is in place. The expansion will deliver larger showrooms, staff training facilties for the entire Middle East and a theatre for events that will be designed by Theo Kalomirakis, a leading New York home theatre designer. Kalomirakis's home theatres are known for their opulence and it is expected the design he creates for Abu Dhabi Motors will be no exception.

The Rolls-Royce division of the dealership has also proven to be a critical part of Abu Dhabi Motors' success. Winning the Rolls-Royce award for Global Leader in Sales Volume 2008 was the company's crowning achievement of 2008, with the largest proportion of worldwide sales of 2,968 units. "We beat Beverly Hills, London, Beijing, Moscow. We can say we're world champions, we're very proud of that," says Husselmann.

He expects the release of the Rolls-Royce Ghost later this year to keep Rolls-Royce sales ticking over for ADM. He describes the Ghost as a "more affordable Rolls-Royce", with a starting price of Dh900,000 and boasting a V12 engine with 540hp. "People will use this car as their daily drive." The connection between Abu Dhabi and Rolls-Royce is important, says Husselmann. Just as Ferrari has a colour, Blue Abu Dhabi, that pays homage to the UAE capital, Rolls-Royce has also named colours in Abu Dhabi's honour. "We have Baniyas Blue, White and Gold as well as Yas White and Yas Blue."

As well as launching the Ghost, Husselmann says a series of new models will be rolled out over the next eight months. The motorsport-inspired X5M and X6M, the new Z4 and the John Cooper Performance Mini are available now. After summer, the 730LI, the supercharged Alpina B7 and the 760LI will be available, and in December 2009 or January 2010, the 5-Series GT, a potent four-door, goes on sale. The November 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will also be a prime promotional opportunity for Abu Dhabi Motors, with the BMW-Sauber team coming to town.

"We have a strong commitment to F1," says Husselmann. "We'll have a showroom evening in Khalidiya on October 28 three days before the race and the drivers Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica, as well as BMW motorsport director Mario Theissen, will be on hand to sign autographs. "We'll also be closing a street for half an hour for a show with an F1 car and either Kubica or Heidfeld will be driving," he says. "The whole world will be watching Abu Dhabi. It's an amazing opportunity."

glewis@thenational.ae

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The Bio

Favourite Emirati dish: I have so many because it has a lot of herbs and vegetables. Harees  (oats with chicken) is one of them

Favourite place to go to: Dubai Mall because it has lots of sports shops.

Her motivation: My performance because I know that whatever I do, if I put the effort in, I’ll get results

During her free time: I like to drink coffee - a latte no sugar and no flavours. I do not like cold drinks

Pet peeve: That with every meal they give you a fries and Pepsi. That is so unhealthy

Advice to anyone who wants to be an ironman: Go for the goal. If you are consistent, you will get there. With the first one, it might not be what they want but they should start and just do it

Emergency

Director: Kangana Ranaut

Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry 

Rating: 2/5

The Sand Castle

Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”