2 Cheap appoints executive

Hugo Richards has been appointed chief operating officer at 2 Cheap Cars and boasts experience across automotive retail, supply chain and after-sales environments.

He joins the Auckland-based company after just over three years as dealer principal at Ingham Great Lake in Taupo, where he took the business from two brands in an ageing facility to an eight-brand operation with a new purpose-built site.

Before that he spent nearly two years as national after-sales manager for Nissan New Zealand and was after-sales director for BB Motor Group, where he was responsible for 30-plus business units covering 16 franchises, from April 2013 to January 2020.

Earlier roles included senior business analyst and then after-sales performance manager during three years with Nissan South Africa, and analyst positions with Vector Limited in New Zealand and UD Trucks South Africa.

Richards, pictured, says he is someone who builds things, “whether it is a benchmarking system, a dealership from the ground up, a supply chain that performs under pressure, or a team culture where people hold themselves accountable”.

“I truly enjoy finding the gap between where a business is and where it should be and closing it,” he adds.