WITH the recent announcement of the aquisition of the regional master dealership for BMW and Mini motor cars, ATL is on track to increase its investment in the luxury car market — hiring new staff and creating new showrooms and service centres.

“We will be looking to employ 30 to 40 new ATL employees,” Matthew Cripps, group general manager, ATL Automotive, told

The Jamaica Observer on Monday.

Kingston will serve as the regional hub for the two luxury brands. A regional team based there will be responsible for marketing sales and service and parts for all nine markets, including Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, the Bahamas, Barbados, Aruba, St Lucia, Curacao, Suriname and the Cayman Islands .

A new showroom and service centre will be constructed in New Kingston, with another planned for Bogue in Montego Bay.

The BMW and Mini marques join ATL Automotive’s Audi, Volkswagen and Honda.

The regional appointment represents the first time a Jamaican automotive company has received such a position. It was the result of a nine-month tender process which saw ATL Automotive successfully compete against several international bids from across Europe and the Americas.

ATL Autohaus will take direct control of the sales and after sales of BMW and Mini in Jamaica on February 15, and will take on the regional management role in April.

“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.

“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,” Stewart added.

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.