Vehicle dealership and car rental specialist Combined Motor Holdings (CMH) is undergoing its most fundamental leadership changes in decades with mainstay CEO Jebb McIntosh set to wind down his near five decade stay at the helm of the group.
The group said on Thursday that its head of motor retail and distribution, Charles Webber, would play a more significant role at the group — in a move that essentially makes him co-CEO.
“McIntosh will remain CEO of the group, but following Webber’s appointment, will take a lesser role in the day-to-day activities,” the company, worth R2.5bn, said.
Webber has a 25-year association with the group, which has 43 retail motor dealerships representing 29 brands sold through operations in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.
Its rental business, First Car Rental, operates with a fleet of 7,400 vehicles throughout SA from a network of 50 branches and employs 485 people.
In another leadership change, the group said its long-time CFO, Stuart Jackson, will step down from the role, with company secretary Priya Govind appointed as CFO designate. The company did not clarify when Govind would take over and when McIntosh would eventually step down.
McIntosh, 79, has served on the CMH board since co-founding the group with Maldwyn Zimmerman in 1976.
The changes follow a recent Business Day report raising questions about the age and tenure of CMH’s leadership, noting that several board members, including McIntosh and Jackson, are well past the age of 70.
McIntosh was appointed CEO in 1999, taking the reins from Zimmerman, who had served as chair and CEO since the group’s inception.
With Jackson, 72, who has been on CMH’s board since 1986, the two men account for nearly 90 years’ combined service to the group.
Webber, who joined CMH in 2000 as dealer principal of the Umhlanga Toyota-Lexus dealership, quickly rose through the ranks. CMH said he was twice named the group’s dealer principal of the year and joined the motor executive committee in 2005.
In 2024, he was promoted to CEO of the motor retail and distribution division, overseeing brands including Toyota, Nissan, Stellantis and Mahindra.
Webber also replaces McIntosh on CMH’s social, ethics and transformation committee with immediate effect.
The group’s board includes eleven members, six independent nonexecutive directors and five executives.
Four of the nonexecutives are black, exceeding the group’s race diversity target, while two of the six are women, meeting the gender target, the group’s recent annual report shows.
McIntosh, Jackson, and other long-serving members, including Dixon and Mike Jones, are past the retirement age. CMH said the board had exercised discretion in extending their tenures when appropriate.
CORRECTION: June 6 2025
The story has been updated to reflect Jackson is not stepping down immediately.
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