Mike Rocco served for more than two years as regional vice president of Nissan North America's mid-Atlantic region. He became regional vice president of Nissan's Central U.S. region just last month. He has more than 25 years of experience in the automotive business, both on the dealership and corporate level. Bentley Motors is tapping a seasoned automotive executive from Nissan to become vice president of sales and operations – a new role – for the British car brand's Americas division. Mike Rocco will start June 19 and be charged with managing Bentley's recent U.S. sales growth.
Bentley Americas CEO Mark Del Rosso said that he expects Mike Rocco to come in and immediately lead their sales operations. The also claims that the Americas region is key to Bentley's global success. The Americas were Bentley's top global market for unit sales in 2016 and Del Rosso says the region greatly influences how customers around the world view the Volkswagen Group brand. Del Rosso claims that Mike understands how a luxury business needs to operate. Rocco takes over for Mark Barnes, who was named COO of Bentley Americas in Sept. 2016. Barnes previously served as the Volkswagen brand's U.S. sales chief, but was reassigned following the company's diesel emissions violations.
Bentley will be rolling out a redesigned Continental next year, and Rocco will be tasked with managing the expected boost from that model as well as fostering dealership relations. Rocco worked on the corporate side and the dealership side, so he's got great insights.
