When it comes to introducing new automotive brands to the Australian market, few people have the credentials or the insights of Justin Hocevar. Over 25 years, this straight-talking Melburnian has notched up a list of accomplishments as varied as the industry itself: from rebuilding Renault as Australia’s favourite French brand, to driving record sales at MINI, to reinventing a very different kind of wheel as Regional Head of INEOS.

Although Justin has ridden the internal-combustion wave, he’s also maintained a tight grip on the shifting landscape of products, preferences, power sources, and distribution models that are continuously reshaping the automotive industry. While INEOS has crashed Australia’s SUV party with a traditional-looking (albeit stunningly modern) off-roader, it’s also investigating an exciting range of emissions-reducing options – including an EV with a small range-extending engine, and a hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle currently in prototype.

For Savic Motorcycles, Justin’s deep expertise will be vital as we roll out our own market-shifting technology, and evolve a distribution model that will also challenge the norm. With a growing number of carmakers facing pushback for their hybrid distribution, Justin’s experience with agency and direct-to-consumer models – and their multiple benefits to consumers – will provide us with the best knowledge in the industry, as we continue to refine our approach.

Justin is also a keen motorcyclist, having worked as a bike courier in London (“the most dangerous job I’ve had!”) and ridden bikes through Europe and Asia – including an epic journey with his wife on a Honda XRV750 from London to Chennai. On his return to Australia in 1998, he joined BMW Group for 12 years, before taking the ailing Renault on its own epic seven-year ride – quadrupling their staff, tripling dealer numbers, and boosting vehicle sales by 600%.

After two years with Jaguar and Land Rover, Justin joined INEOS in 2020, where he’s now Head of APAC, charged with building a new market for the exciting 4X4 play from Fiji to Mongolia. As well as setting up distribution hubs in Australia and Singapore, Justin’s current focus is launching in China – the “new frontier”, he says, for electric and range-extending technologies.

“Having launched a number of EVs since 2011, I think energy and mobility are far from a single solution for everyone,” says Justin. “What we’ll end up with are a variety of ways of combining and augmenting power with electric, hydrogen, fuel cells, and synthetic fuels – as we continue to wean ourselves off fossil fuels.”