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Jardine International Motor Holdings (JIMH) does not expect efforts to turn around its troubled operations in Britain to be affected by the imminent departure of its most senior executive in the country.

 JIMH, 75 per cent-owned by Jardine Matheson, said yesterday chief executive Peter Ward resigned from the company in order to pursue his own business interests.

 The company said Mr Ward's departure would be effective at the end of February and chairman Anthony Nightingale would be appointed executive chairman.

 Mr Nightingale said: 'In no way will this change the strategy of JIMH nor does it imply any other kind of structural changes.'  Mr Ward spent most of his time in Britain overseeing efforts to turnaround JIMH's troubled car-retailing operations.

 'Peter's given lots of notice. He was active in working on the problems in the UK, but there is a substantial team of executives working on various responsibilities.

 'There's plenty of time to move on the various issues,' Mr Nightingale said.

 JIMH has expanded aggressively in Britain, since acquiring Appleyard - a 48-strong dealership network representing 23 marques - in 1997 in a US$89 million deal.

 Last year, it entered into a joint-venture with Ford Motor to purchase Dagenham Motors Group, Britain's largest independent Ford dealership network.

 But its dealerships in Britain have been hampered by poor sales, with Rover cars proving especially disappointing. A strong sterling has affected sales of imported Ford cars.

 When JIMH unveiled its interim results last month, finance director Samuel Houston warned Appleyard sales might continue to disappoint in the second half of the year.

 JIMH also said it had begun the search for a new senior-level executive who would be responsible for the European and Indian markets, which share some technical and management personnel.

 The company's two most significant markets are in Britain and Hong Kong, where it operates Zung Fu, the official importer of Mercedes-Benz vehicles.

 DaimlerChrysler, which builds Mercedes cars, has been negotiating with Zung Fu for an expanded role in marketing the marque in Hong Kong.

 'The structure going forward will be that Hong Kong and China will report directly to me, while there will be a new executive to look after Europe,' Mr Nightingale said.

CARS 



Jardines brushes off resignation of top British operations exec