The CHIJ old girl now in charge at Rolls-Royce

Singapore

A NEW boss is in the driver's seat at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars for our part of the world. The maker of ultra-luxury cars announced on Monday that Irene Nikkein is the new regional director, Asia-Pacific for the BMW-owned brand.

She takes over the position from Paul Harris, who has left the company after 24 years with BMW Group, more than eight of them as the head of Rolls-Royce in the region.

Rolls-Royce Asia-Pacific is based in Singapore but its operations cover a sprawling territory that includes such major markets as Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea.

Having already started in her new role, Ms Nikkein is currently travelling to visit dealers.

But in some ways, the Rolls-Royce job is something of a homecoming for the 41-year-old. Ms Nikkein was born in Indonesia but went to school here, attending CHIJ St Theresa's Convent and Catholic Junior College.

She has a bachelor's degree in Business Administration (majoring in Marketing) with Distinction from RMIT University in Singapore.

Ms Nikkein joined BMW Asia, which is also headquartered here, in 2007. Three years later, she became the regional marketing manager for Mini, another of BMW's brands, before relocating in 2016 to take up the role of Head of Brand Communication & Product Management for Mini Japan.

"Irene has an exceptional track record and her broad experience, combined with extensive regional knowledge, makes her ideally suited to this important role," Henrik Wilhelmsmeyer, director of Sales and Brand, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, said in a statement.

With Rolls-Royce working on its first pure electric car and pursuing a more understated design direction to leave opulence behind, Ms Nikkein might have arrived with perfect timing.

"It is innate in me to challenge the status quo for continuous improvement," she writes on her LinkedIn profile.