BMW of North America today announced changes to its executive leadership team, naming Adam McNeill vice president engineering and Adam Sykes as vice president corporate communications for the Americas region.
McNeill joined BMW in 1999 with responsiblity for vehicle safety of the then-new MINI. Since then he has held several management positions related to vehicle safety, including heading the company’s passive safety development department, focused on compliance with legal and consumer testing standards worldwide.
From 2008-2011, McNeill was head of product requirements and development in this region. Last year, McNeill received an award of appreciation from NHTSA in recognition of developments in vehicle safety.
In a press release, BMW said that McNeill’s predecessor Roberto Rossetti, who had successfully overseen the engineering department for three years, was returning to Munich to take on a new position at corporate headquarters.
Sykes has been with the BMW Group since 2004, first in Munich. After that he took on roles in the company’s U.K. operations, initially as the head of strategy and later heading marketing for the MINI brand. In 2012 Sykes returned to Munich to lead global business development for the MINI brand, BMW noted in its release. Most recently he served as the head of BMW corporate communications for the Asia Pacific, Africa and Importer Market regions.
Sykes’ extensive background in corporate strategy includes having led the development of BMW Group’s Strategy Number ONE NEXT, and specifically the strategy initiative for the U.S. market.
Sykes replaces Nikolai Glies, who took over responsibility for corporate, product and innovations communications based in Munich.
In the release, Bernhard Kuhnt, president and CEO, BMW of North America, thanked Rossetti and Giles “for their exemplary leadership and commitment to our business in the U.S. over these past few years.” He also welcomed McNeill and Sykes to the North American executive team.
“Both bring with them a wealth of experience and knowledge of the U.S. market, and are well-positioned to help us move the company forward as we build an even stronger foundation for the future,” Kuhnt said.
