Catalin Gavra, boss over a 500m-euro business

Catalin Gavra, former general manager of Ford’s importer on the local market, has been appointed to head the auto retail division within Tiriac Holdings, which includes 14 dealers with a turnover estimated at 500 million euros this year. “I will take over the general manager position of Tiriac Auto as of July 1,” said Catalin Gavra, who will report directly to Anca Ioan, CEO of Tiriac Holdings. This is a newly created position. Gavra has, since the spring of 2005, operated as general manager of Romcar, Ford’s importer, which had the largest auto business in the Tiriac group, the third largest player on the local auto market. Gavra is 39, was born in the town of Moreni and graduated from the Faculty of Transport in Bucharest in 1994, after which he joined the Romcar team. During Gavra’s term, Romcar managed to move from 8,000 units sold in 2005, when Gavra was appointed general manager, to a 26,000-unit plan for this year, when Ford forecasts turnover worth 340 million euros.