VDI Australia has announced who its inaugural COO is to help drive the Yutong bus and coach Australian distributor forward in 2023 and beyond
As the supplier of Yutong buses and coaches into Australia, VDI Australia has announced the appointment of James Gauci to its Chief Operating Officer position from May 2023 onwards.
VDI Australia says Gauci possesses extensive experience in senior level roles across multiple industry sectors, having spent the past nine and a half years at Hyundai Motor Company Australia, most recently as its head of electrified heavy commercial vehicles.
VDI managing director Peter Woodward says Gauci’s appointment as its inaugural COO is a key component of the organisation’s growth strategy.
“James’ customer centricity, people focus and commercial acumen will help guide VDI through this important phase of our trajectory, especially in critical areas such as customer satisfaction, service and engagement,” Woodward says.
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Gauci says he is both excited and optimistic about his new role with VDI Australia.
“I am honoured and humbled to be joining the VDI family at this time. Our organisation represents a remarkable Australian family company success story, with genuine environmental and sustainability heritage that goes back many decades,” he says.
“The range of Yutong bus products that VDI distribute and service are clearly market leading, especially our EV series. Our people are highly experienced, energised and excited about VDI’s future.
“Collectively, these attributes enable us to compete even more strongly in the Australian market as we continue to execute strategically.”
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During the past 12 months, VDI has embarked upon a dedicated, growth inspired program nationally. Central to this includes a company owned retail and service delivery model with supporting technologies designed to achieve consistently high standards of customer service and satisfaction.
VDI Australia says Gauci’s appointment will initially focus upon stabilising this important phase, enabling the realisation of VDI’s various product offerings and customer experience outcomes.
Gauci will build on history after VDI was established in 2016 to service and support Yutong buses in Australia, comprising a series of high quality eight to 12 metre diesel and more recently, electric E12 City Bus and all new C12E School / Charter / Mining variants.
In 2017, VDI moved forward to manage all spare parts nationally and in 2018 became the national distributor for Yutong Australia. With multiple branch outlets throughout Australia, VDI remains a locally owned, family-run business, led by Woodward and his team that now includes Gauci.