KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 23): Sime Darby Bhd has roped in Andrew Basham as managing director of Sime Darby Motors following the retirement of current head Datuk Lawrence Lee Cheow Hock effective March 1.

Basham will leave his post as managing director of Lei Shing Hong Automotive in Hong Kong, where he oversaw the retail and importation of Mercedes-Benz and Porsche vehicles in South Korea, Australia, Vietnam, England, Germany and Cambodia, Sime Darby said at a media briefing today.

Meanwhile, Lee, who has been at the helm of the group's motors division since Jan 1, 2008, will take on the role of non-independent and non-executive director of Sime Darby.

Lee, aged 63 and a Singaporean national, has served the group in various capacities for more than 36 years, Sime Darby said in a filing in late January.

Welcoming the new director, Sime Darby group chief executive officer Jeffri Salim Davidson said the core operations of the division would not be affected by the appointment.

"We still have a lot of old hands (at Sime Darby Motors)," Jeffri said at the group's briefing on its second quarter results today.

Meanwhile, Sime Darby group chief strategy officer Datuk Thomas Leong said it would be exciting to see what Basham will be bringing to Sime Darby Motors considering his background in working with BMW competitor Mercedes-Benz.

Sime Darby Motors is the second largest dealer for BMW in the world.

"I'm certainly hoping for the best," Leong said of the appointment at the sidelines of the group's media briefing today.

Basham was previously executive director for automobiles at Lei Shing Hong from September 2006 to February 2016.

He has over 20 years of experience in the motors distribution business including management roles in Volvo Australia, Japan and Taiwan, Sime Darby said.