Saab has announced the appointment of Parveen Batish to the role of Director – Saab Australia and New Zealand.

Mr Batish has enjoyed a long history with the Saab brand since joining General Motors in the United Kingdom in December 1995.

In his 10 years with Saab Mr Batish has held a number of sales and marketing roles, most recently General Manager – Marketing and Sales Analysis with Saab Great Britain.

Mr Batish was also a member of the Saab Integration and Growth team established to improve the effectiveness of Saab GB.

The achievements of the team included a substantial increase in Saab brand awareness from 15 to 27 per cent and impressive sales growth of more than 40 per cent year on year in that market.

The success of the Saab Integration and Growth team was recognised with the 2005 GM Chairman's Honours Award and Saab GB is currently the third largest market for Saab globally behind the United States and Sweden.

Mt Batish replaces current Saab Australia and New Zealand Director Ralph Stevenson who will shortly take up a new senior appointment with the GM Holden Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing organisation. Further details on Mr Stevenson’s new role will be announced shortly.

During his 18 months as Director, Mr Stevenson was responsible for the integration of Saab Australia and New Zealand with GM Holden, significant and competitive price realignment for the brand and a lift in first quarter sales this year of more than 38 per cent.

Mr Batish will commence with Saab Australia on Thursday 8th June 2006 and will work closely with Mr Stevenson as they transition the role throughout the month of June.

2006 Saab 9-3 convertible