BMW elevates former motorcycle exec to steer Mini in Americas

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.

BMW marketing exec and motorcycle rider Trudy Hardy will replace Peyton as vice president of BMW Motorrad of the Americas.

She will be responsible for Motorrad operations in North and South America, including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, and Latin America Direct Market Operations.

Since 2013, Hardy served as vice president of marketing for BMW of North America.

She began her career with the BMW Group in 2001 as one of the original team members responsible for launching the Mini brand in the U.S. Since then, Hardy has led marketing in various departments across the company, from aftersales to Mini and BMW, responsible for brand strategy, positioning, product management and communications.

Hardy's successor was not announced.

Peyton and Hardy will report to BMW of North America CEO Bernhard Kuhnt and serve as members of the company's executive management team.