Former Audi CMO Nikki Warburton joins CarExpert board following personal investment
Former chief customer and marketing officer of Audi, Nikki Warburton has taken a stake in and joined CarExpert’s board, Mumbrella can reveal.
Warburton joins as non-executive board director of CarExpert.com.au, with immediate effect, and will take an active and strategic role within the company one day a week.
Nikki Warburton.
CarExpert is Australia’s largest privately owned automotive publisher.
It is understood Warburton’s personal stake comes as the company recently closed a $5 million raise in late-2022, which said now leaves it with a $42 million valuation, as it heads toward an IPO in 2024.
CEO, Damon Rielly, who was appointed last year, said Warburton’s extensive experience in the automotive sector makes her a great asset for the business.
“I’m really excited and proud to welcome Nikki to the CarExpert board. Nikki’s expertise in the automotive industry and insights into what makes OEM’s, New Car Dealerships and New Car buyers tick will provide us an even greater understanding in building market-leading products.
“Nikki’s active involvement in the Australian business community will help build CarExpert’s reputation as Australia’s leading online new car marketplace,” he added.
Alborz Fallah, co-founder and publisher told Mumbrella that after the initial approach and work to appoint Warburton to the CarExpert board, Warburton told the company she would also like to invest.
“It’s always a good thing when the person who’s joining your board is also personally invested in it, so you know that they believe in it too.”
Warburton is currently non-executive board director of the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the AFL, as well as non-executive board director at MA Financial Group. Her career began at ASTRE, the Australian distributor for Audi, Hyundai and Chrysler Jeep, where she was general manager for marketing.
In late 2021, Seven West Media made a multi-million dollar investment in CarExpert, as well as appointing the business as its primary automotive partner, shortly after the pair agreed an additional data and content deal.
Warburton is married to chief executive of Seven West Media, James Warburton.
Alborz Fallah.
As part of the deal, CarExpert launched an advertising suite that consisted of ten products last year, and continues to expand its reach across Seven West Media digital assets.
CarExpert said its staff count has now exceeded 40 people, and as of late-2022 figures, it is on a “$10 million annual run and rapidly growing”.
CarExpert was founded in 2020 by Alborz Fallah and Anthony Crawford, who were also co-founders of Car Advice. The pair, along with presenter Paul Maric, sold the business to Nine Entertainment Co in 2018 for a reported $62 million, before leaving in 2019. Soon after the media company announced it would be merging Car Advice and Drive, shortly before CEO Andrew Beecher said he would be stepping down.
Following the appointment of Rielly, who was previously CEO of iCar Asia, CarExpert hired its first CMO in September last year, Chris Catchpoole. Catchpoole was formerly the CMO of Compare The Market.
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Calum Jaspan was news editor at Mumbrella, based in Melbourne. He was also the producer and host of the Mumbrellacast. He left Mumbrella in May 2023.
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How can a non-executive director have an active and ongoing executive role within the company?
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Is every one that works at your organization an executive in the company? You can be a board member and a consultant which seems to be the case here, doesn’t make you an executive.
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