Samantha to spearhead AMW’s aggressive expansion as Group MD

Associated Motorways Ltd (AMW) Chairman Len Hunt this week said the new Group Managing Director Samantha Rajapaksa will spearhead the blue chip’s aggressive expansion in Sri Lanka.

The appointment of Rajapaksa a well-known professional with an over 25-year successful track record of increasing responsibility in diverse business organisations both local and overseas, which include strategic planning, business development and implementing organisational change management, as AMW Group Managing Director was announced this week.

“We are delighted that Samantha has joined us and we are confident that he will be able to lead the AMW Group to new levels of performance which will include executing our aggressive expansion plans in Sri Lanka,” said Hunt who is also President of Al-Futtaim Automotives in Dubai. AMW comes under the giant Al Futtaim Group.

Rajapaksa is a Fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants of UK, and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing of UK. He also holds an MBA from the University of Sri Jayawardenepura.

An alumni and past Head Prefect of Ananda College – Colombo, Rajapaksa began his career at Ernst and Young. He went on to serve as Director/GM at Informatics International, Director/CEO at CF Venture Fund, Group Director of Central Finance Co., Senior Project Manager at AT & T Inc. USA and Group Director of Kshatriya Holdings.

In his last assignment Rajapaksa was a Group Director of the Softlogic Group and Director/CEO of Softlogic Communications Ltd. responsible for the Nokia Distributorship and group business development initiatives. He also served as the Chairman of Softlogic Credit Ltd. while also serving on the Boards of Softlogic Capital and Softlogic Finance.

Rajapaksa will continue on the Boards of Asiri Hospitals Holdings and Asiri Surgical Hospital, the AMW announcement said.

Dubai-based Al-Futtaim Group acquired Associated Motorways in mid-2008. AMW is widely known as the leading automobile company in Sri Lanka and offers its customers the entire spectrum of transport solutions from motorcycles to large commercial trucks.  

AMW are the sole distributors for Nissan, Maruti, Suzuki, Eicher, Yamaha, Piaggio, Goodyear, British Petroleum and Castrol, which are all world-leading brands. The brands have strong market shares within their respective categories.

In addition AMW is a pioneer in the processed rubber industry, manufacturing a wide range of products including automotive tyres for commercial vehicles, and custom compounds for both local and export markets.  

The group includes a subsidiary, AMW Capital Leasing which offers leasing and financial services to potential vehicle buyers. The Al-Futtaim Group, which was established in 1930 is the undisputed leader in the motor trade in the U.A.E, being the sole distributor for Toyota, Lexus, Honda, Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Volvo, Hino, BF Goodrich, TOYO, and Hertz.

It has since grown rapidly expanding to 60 companies with business operations outside the UAE into Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Egypt, Syria, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Europe with over 20,000 employees.

Whilst Automotive remains the core business, the Group has diversified into Retail, Electronics, Real Estate, Financial Services, Insurance and General Services.