ATL Automotive has announced that it is set to sign an agreement this week after being named Regional Master Dealers for BMW and MINI in Jamaica and eight countries throughout the Caribbean.

The regional appointment, a first ever for a Jamaican automotive company, followed a nine-month tender process that saw ATL Automotive overcome international bids from across Europe and the Americas.

The company said it will take direct control of the sales and after sales of BMW and MINI in Jamaica on February 15, 2016 and, effective April 1, play a regional management role in an additional eight countries — Trinidad and Tobago, The Bahamas, Cayman, Curacao, Barbados, Aruba, Saint Lucia, and Suriname.

“This is a tremendous moment for ATL Automotive and perfectly caps a year of long-term strategic planning that saw us make bold decisions, with our customers at the centre, on where we saw the future of the automotive industry going,” a company news release quoted Adam Stewart, chief executive officer and deputy chairman.

“This appointment has come to fruition because of our drive, peerless regional know-how and good, old-fashioned endeavour; great credit must go to the minds and management of the ATL Automotive team,” he said.

“We are delighted not just to be appointed, but to headquarter this regional operation right here in Kingston is huge and a great testament to the talent we have here in Jamaica,” Stewart added.

“Similarly to when Sandals ventured outside of Jamaica to Antigua in 1991, this is just the first step in the realisation of ATL Automotive’s own regional ambitions, and who better to do it with than two of the world’s finest automotive brands?” Stewart continued.

ATL Automotive explained that BMW/MINI Jamaica will be operated as an entirely separate company. “ATL Autobahn will be celebrated with the construction of two world-class, state-of-the-art sales and service facilities in the country’s capital Kingston, and for the first time ever, Montego Bay,” the company said.

“In addition to providing world-class sales and service to Jamaican motorists, ATL Automotive/Autobahn will serve as a central hub to include the distribution of cars and parts, service support, regional marketing initiatives as well as the central training ground via the company’s revered ATL Academy of Excellence,” the company said.

Added Stewart: “Aside from our new role in Jamaica, we’ll be working closely with the existing dealer network, some of the best automotive dealers in the Caribbean, and supporting them with a full suite of our services. Whether it’s regional sales and after-sales support, game-changing marketing initiatives or comprehensive training programmes, our mandate is to drive the BMW and MINI brands throughout the region.”

BMW and MINI, Stewart said, are two of the most celebrated brands in Jamaica, and existing and future drivers are at the forefront of his company’s planning.

“We’ll be working hand-in-glove with the outgoing dealers, Stewart’s Autosales, to ensure the smoothest transition possible, so that our mutual customers receive the highest level of care imaginable and practically an invisible transition for them,” Stewart said. “We thank Stewart’s Autosales for their professionalism and BMW for sharing our vision.”

The company said that existing BMW and MINI customers will have their service-inclusive packages and new car warranties continuing to be fully honoured.

ATL Automotive was formed in 1997 as the authorised new car distributor for leading car giant Honda, and while serving Jamaica for over a decade, has set the benchmark for automobile sales and service in the island.

“With the recent introduction of more world-class brands to the family, ATL Automotive now encompasses several divisions exclusively distributing the world’s finest automobile brands from state-of-the-art showrooms and service facilities in Kingston and Montego Bay, strengthening its undisputed position as the country’s foremost automotive group and changing the face of motoring in Jamaica forever,” the company said.