The Petromin Auto Care Corp., a Saudi Arabia-based automotive care company, has appointed Sabrina Thring as its new managing director, effective Oct. 1.
Thring, who joined the PACC board of directors this summer, is tasked with leading the development and expansion of the company’s international business. Her principal responsibilities include supporting growth within the Saudi and domestic markets and advancing PACC’s inorganic growth strategy through acquisitions and global strategic partnerships.
In this new role, she will report to the board through its chairman and work in close coordination with the group CEO of Petromin Corporation, who also serves as a member of the PACC board.
Thring told Collision Repair she would remain in her board position while in the new executive role. "I will also remain as an independent board member for AIA and NABC."
The decision to have Thring serve on both the corporate board and its executive team is unusual in North American corporate governance, which favours a strict separation of management and oversight. Canada’s eight major pension funds, including CPP Investments, have each publicly described these dual roles as an inherent conflict of interest, and routinely use proxy votes to penalize boards on which sitting corporate executives serve.
Thring brings more than 23 years of leadership experience to the position, with deep roots in finance and operations. Born and raised in Toronto, she is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) who held senior finance roles with Bacardi and Alcon Pharmaceuticals before pivoting to the automotive aftermarket in 2016 as CARSTAR's vice-president of finance.
During her tenure with Driven Brands, Thring's career rapidly expanded into multi-site management. She served as chief financial officer of the paint and collision division, and later as chief operating officer of the U.S. collision segment, where she managed brands including Fix Auto, ABRA, and CARSTAR. Most recently, as president of the Collision Group and Driven Glass Canada, she was responsible for the strategy, performance, and profitability of more than 1,300 franchised and company-owned centres across North America.
Founded in 1968, Petromin Corporation is a massive automotive services conglomerate with more than 5,000 employees and operations across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. The PACC division manages a network of hundreds of service centres offering a wide range of services, from quick lube changes and heavy mechanical repairs to advanced electric vehicle diagnostics and charging infrastructure.
Her background includes extensive expertise in scaling service networks, integrating acquired businesses, and fostering partnerships with insurers, fleet operators, and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
Despite her new international responsibilities, Thring confirmed she will maintain her current industry commitments in North America.
