And our number one is...

2018’s most influential Brit, and latest Hall of Fame inductee

THIS year’s Brit List number one, and inductee into the Auto Express Hall of Fame, is Bolton-born and now Detroit-based Duncan Aldred. The former Vauxhall chairman was appointed as Vice-president of Buick and GMC in 2014 and has since seen sales rocket for two of GM’S most important brands.

The year has started well for GMC, with SUV sales up 9.4 per cent in the first quarter, thanks to the smaller Terrain joining the brand’s line-up. Pick-up sales remain strong, but it’s Aldred’s work in developing the higher-margin Denali models that has really helped boost GM’S bottom line.

His work on Buick is also paying dividends with another nine per cent increase in sales in the first quarter of 2018. SUVS have again been the home-market highlight, but Aldred has a clear focus on China, where Buick is a major player and sales of the latest Regal models have jumped 35 per cent. Again, Aldred has played the premium card with Buick, by developing the Avenir sub-brand across its model range.

A GM lifer, Aldred started his career in 1990 at Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port plant in Cheshire, moving through the ranks with the firm. In 2006 he moved to Hungary to run sales and marketing for GM’S brands in south eastern Europe, before being called to Opel HQ in Russelsheim in Germany for the job of sales operations director of the German brand.

In 2010, Aldred became Chairman and Managing Director of Vauxhall and was instrumental in GM’S decision to invest in Ellesmere Port for production of the Astra. Many of his successful sales and marketing strategies that worked so well in the UK are now being implemented in the US to great effect. But he has a huge influence across the business, including the design of the latest Buick and GMC models. It’s no surprise that he’s being tipped for even greater things within GM.