With U.S. sales of its Mini brand in free fall, BMW has turned to a former Ford executive and 30-year industry veteran to help reverse course.
Michael Peyton, who previously ran BMW's motorcycle business in the Americas, will lead Mini's North and South America operations starting July 1, BMW said Friday.
Peyton replaces Thomas Felbermair, who is returning to Germany to lead sales and marketing at BMW's Motorsport business in Munich.
Peyton takes over at a critical time. Thanks to a meager product pipeline, Mini U.S. deliveries in April tumbled 30 percent from a year ago. Since hitting a sales peak in 2013, the brand's sales have been in a funk.
Meanwhile, dealer profitability concerns prompted BMW of North America to let some Mini dealers downsize their stores and allowed others to consolidate operations into their BMW stores to help defray operating costs and real estate overhead.
Peyton spent 17 years at Ford in several sales and marketing roles for Ford, Lincoln and Mercury. He then joined Harley-Davidson Motor Co., where he led U.S. dealer development for the Americas region. He joined BMW in 2016.