Andrew Beecher steps down as Car Advice CEO
After more than five years in the role, Andrew Beecher has revealed he will step down as CEO of Car Advice.
The move comes after an announcement from Nine last month that it would merge the Car Advice and Drive motoring platforms, which would result in up to 10 redundancies.
The merger will see Car Advice’s content shared on Drive’s digital and print platforms, which previously operated under Fairfax ownership.
In his five and a half years with the brand, Beecher has overseen the sale and transition from independent ownership to a subsidiary of Nine.
Greg Barnes, Nine CFO and chairman of Car Advice said he wishes Beecher all the best.
“I congratulate Andrew for a very successful five years and half years at Car Advice and wish him all the very best for the future,” said Barnes.
“Andrew has led the team through a period of significant and profitable growth and firmly established Car Advice as the leading publisher in the new car space.
“He has also worked to strengthen the Car Advice brand while bringing it into the Nine family.”
“Plus in recent months Andrew has overseen the merger with the Drive Network, which will further strengthen our combined offering to auto manufacturers through increased audience scale and greater cross-platform capabilities and service offerings.”
Nine bought a majority stake in Car Advice in September of 2016 for $35m and took control of the business last year. Beecher said leading the brand has been a privilege.
“It has been a privilege to lead Car Advice for over five years and serve the millions of Australian consumers who read, watch, listen and engage with Car Advice content. I am immensely proud of what we have accomplished as a team on behalf of our automotive customers,” said Beecher.
“It has been my great honour to work with an exceptionally dedicated and passionate team of executives who lead the most talented group of employees I have ever experienced. I am exceedingly grateful for all of the long hours and hard work the Car Advice team have put in to elevate the company to a strong and proud publisher that supports independent automotive journalism.
“I am convinced that Car Advice and Drive will continue to be an increasingly strong force in the automotive landscape, bringing innovative ideas to our customers and creating world-class content for our consumers.”
A search for a new CEO has commenced.
Car Advice had some of the worst, most inorganic content out there. Like no way can you call any of them motor journalists as they don’t understand the basic ins and outs of cars.
Learn from the Chris Harris, Matt Prior and Henry Catchpoole. These guys actually know what they’re talking about.
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I’d respectfully disagree, but I am biased. Chris Harris couldn’t turn his standalone publishing efforts on YouTube profitable and had to cease. Catchpole is one of my favourites and I have no idea who Matt Prior is. Sounds like you think Australian car consumers should only read/view overseas content which of course would impact the entire domestic automotive industry. I’m proud of delivering Australian content for Australian’s – although to be fair CarAdvice has a large (30%+) and growing overseas audience also.
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Andrew Beecher has done an incredible job leading Car Advice from strength to strength. He is much loved by his team and understands publishing and how to make it profitable in challenging times. He is also a great bloke. Can’t wait to see where his next road trip takes him.
No, C/A was/is fully of ignorant car company paid stooges
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