One doesn’t have to be a motor vehicle enthusiast to feel the pride and joy of Jamaicans who have witnessed the relentless speed of the evolution of ATL Automotive into a Caribbean hub, covering 21 countries and territories stretching from Bermuda in the north to Panama in Central America.

From its one iconic Honda brand, the Caribbean hub has expanded outwards from the Jamaican capital, Kingston, to become the regional distribution, dealer development and support division of ATL Automotive Group, the region’s largest and most diverse of its kind.

The hub acts as the central link between international automotive manufacturers and dealer partners across the Caribbean and surrounding markets. It provides the infrastructure, expertise and hands-on support required to successfully introduce, operate and grow global automotive brands across what is a complex region.

With a portfolio boasting an impressive array of the hottest deals on wheels, like BMW, MINI, BYD, Foton, MG, Omoda & Jaecoo, and Jetour, brand representation varies by market, with each franchise placed according to the opportunities, customer requirements and strength of the local dealer partner.

Patrick Wilson, CEO of ATL Automotive

A spanking new Omoda C5 graces the sales floor.

And although ATL Automotive began with one brand, operating from one dealership in Kingston, the ambition was always bigger — an automotive network with the scale, expertise and infrastructure required to give customers across the region greater choice, stronger support and better representation from global manufacturers.
Mission accomplished.

Across the 21 countries and territories, ATL Automotive now works through approximately 35 dealer operations, having grown itself into a position to deliver a level of automotive choice and regional support unmatched in the Caribbean. It’s a story Jamaica has seen before. “During the 1990s, Sandals demonstrated that a Jamaican company could successfully expand across the Caribbean by respecting the individuality of each destination while building the strength of a regional brand,” says Executive Chairman Adam Stewart.

In the 1980s, Sandals Resorts grew from a single Jamaican property into the country’s most successful home-grown international superbrand. It achieved that growth by recognising the wider potential of the Caribbean, building scale across multiple markets and combining strong regional knowledge with international standards.

A car enthusiast of some renown himself, Stewart notes that the approach taken in the automotive industry is a replication of the resort brand that pulls the world to the Caribbean. “We don’t try to make the Caribbean fit one model; we build solutions that recognise the uniqueness of every market while harnessing the collective strength of the region,” he recounts.

“By bringing markets together, ATL is able to create stronger purchasing power, more competitive pricing, improved warranty support, greater access to technical expertise, more consistent retail standards and stronger representation from manufacturers,” Stewart is now showing off.

He drives home a key point: ATL gives Caribbean customers access to more brands, more vehicle types and more mobility solutions than individual markets could easily secure on their own.
“The goal is not simply to sell more vehicles or collect more brands. It is to build a connected regional platform that gives manufacturers a credible route into the Caribbean, gives dealers access to world-class support and gives customers more choice, better service and greater confidence,” explains CEO Patrick Wilson.

The ATL Automotive Prestige Centre at Ferry, St Catherine

Wilson suggests that for their manufacturing partners, the value is clear. Instead of managing relationships across dozens of individual dealerships, they have one trusted regional partner with the experience, capability and governance to deliver consistently high standards across multiple markets.

“Our leadership team brings decades of automotive and commercial experience, allowing manufacturers to focus on strategy while we manage the complexity of execution across the Caribbean,” says Wilson.
The road from ATL Automotive to Caribbean hub has been eventful. ATL Automotive was awarded the regional master dealership for BMW and MINI in November 2015 — a big deal for a small country — getting the operation on the road in Jamaica in April 2016, with capacity to provide regional support to eight Caribbean markets.

Next came BYD and the subsequent introduction of further passenger, commercial and new-energy vehicle brands. Today, the hub represents seven international automotive brands across the 21 countries and territories, reflecting significant growth in both geographic reach and the breadth of its automotive portfolio.

The ATL Automotive Caribbean Hub currently operates across Antigua and Barbuda; Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao; The Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; Bermuda; the British Virgin Islands; the Cayman Islands; Grenada; Guyana; Haiti; Panama; St Lucia; St Martin; St Vincent and the Grenadines; Suriname; Trinidad and Tobago; the Turks and Caicos Islands; and Jamaica.

Not every brand, Wilson notes, is represented in every market. The hub works with manufacturers and local dealer partners to determine the most appropriate brand and product opportunities for each territory.
“For example, Jetour is represented regionally but is not currently represented by ATL in Jamaica, while MG is among the brands represented in Haiti,” he says, adding that ATL Automotive also represents Honda, Kia, Audi, Volkswagen, and Porsche in Jamaica but they are not currently managed regionally through the Caribbean hub.

The centralised structure of the hub enables international manufacturers to work through one experienced regional organisation while maintaining strong, locally operated dealer businesses in each territory.
A central part of the role is the development of people through a dedicated training centre in Kingston, providing hands-on training for dealer personnel from across the region. Training includes sales, product knowledge, after sales operations, technical diagnosis, service procedures, warranty management and high-voltage systems for electric and hybrid vehicles.

The Kingston-based training operation helps ensure that dealer teams across the network are equipped to meet the technical, operational and customer-service standards required by each manufacturer.
For the hub, a thing of pride is its specialist “Flying Doctor” service for dealer partners facing technical matters that cannot be resolved locally. Senior technical specialists can be deployed to regional markets to support diagnosis, repair and complex technical cases.

This service gives dealers access to advanced technical expertise without requiring each individual market to independently maintain every level of specialist capability.
Under a dedicated regional marketing operation out of Jamaica, the team works alongside manufacturers and dealer partners to plan and execute campaigns suited to individual markets while maintaining the global standards and identity of each brand.

Support can include regional campaign development, digital marketing, social media, public relations, product launches, lead generation, creative execution, and dealer-level marketing activity.
Most dealer operations within the hub network are independently owned local businesses, all working closely to benefit from the brand access, training, technical expertise, operational standards and marketing support needed to build strong and sustainable businesses.

Wilson pointed to the two regional joint ventures — Guyana — CAM Motors — an automotive operation supporting ATL-represented brands in Guyana; and Trinidad and Tobago — Spectra Motors and LAFAST Motors — supporting ATL-represented brands in Trinidad and Tobago.

“Our customers remain our most important concern and the hub helps to ensure that vehicles are backed by trained teams, recognised retail standards, manufacturer-supported warranty processes and consistent after-sales care,” Wilson emphasises.

Executive Chairman Stewart explains the vision:

“Many people look at the Caribbean and see one region. We see distinct markets, each with its own culture, economy, currency, regulations and way of doing business. That understanding has been built over decades, and it’s what makes the ATL Automotive Caribbean hub so powerful.

“By connecting these economies under one umbrella, we’re creating greater scale, stronger partnerships, better support for our dealer network and new opportunities for global automotive brands. It’s a model that benefits everyone — our manufacturers, our dealer partners, our Jamaican-based regional team and, ultimately, the customers we all serve.

“It’s proof that world-class regional businesses can be built from Jamaica, creating value not only for our company but for the wider Caribbean economy.”

In sum, according to Wilson, the hub works alongside its dealer partners, supporting where they need it most, sharing best practice and providing additional resources that help them grow while always respecting that they know their local market best.

“We do the hard work behind the scenes, ensuring every brand is represented to the highest standard in every market,” says Wilson, unable to hide his passion for the job.