Mercedes firm, Weststar, appoints first Nigerian MD, Ojulari

Mrs Mary Ojulari has emerged the first Nigerian to be appointed managing director of Weststar Associates Limited, the country’s authorised distributor of Mercedes-Benz brand of vehicles.

She takes over from Mirko Plath, who had led the company since inception as the MD for the past 15 years.

The auto firm in a terse statement sent via email on Friday by its Marketing & Social Media Manager, Oluwatobi Abimbola , said, “The Board of Directors is pleased to announce the appointment of Mrs Mary Ojulari as the new Managing Director of Weststar Associates Limited.

“Mary has a successful history within our organization and has played a key part in the company as CFO and Deputy Managing Director before.”

Although nothing was said about Mirko Plath, it was learnt that he would operate from Germany, his home country, as the chief executive officer of the company, while Ojulari is expected to oversee the day-to-day running of the Weststar in Nigeria and report to the CEO.

Indeed, the email announcing Ojulari’s new appointment was also copied to Plath.

Founded in 2007, Weststar Associates coordinates the Mercedes-Benz business activities such as sales, dealer support, fleet management support, after-sale service, warranties, marketing, public affairs and training.

Mary Ojulari was until her latest appointment the deputy managing director and chief financial officer (cfo) at weststar associates limited.

She obtained her Accounting and Finance degree from the London South Bank University and is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

She has over 18 years experience and has worked in several senior management and director level roles within the hospitality, media, services and automobile sectors.

She started her professional career with KPMG UK and thereafter moved to Whitbread PLC, the largest hospitality company in the UK.

At Whitbread Plc, she was part of the team that implemented change management and carried out the due diligence for the sale of 160 restaurants to a Venture Capitalist.

Ojulari had worked in the media industry for 12 years (British Broadcasting Company (BBC), CNBC Africa & Forbes). She worked in leadership roles at the BBC, CNBC Africa & Forbes providing strategic direction. She joined Weststar in 2017 as the CFO and became the Deputy Managing Director and CFO.