General Motors International boss hits the road - to Taranaki
Sunday, 18 February 2018
When you're one of the world's leading motor industry executives and you've got a day spare during a visit to New Zealand, there's only one thing to be done - head off on a roadie.
That what the president of General Motors International Barry Engle did on Friday after he had finished a round of official business in Auckland the day before.
He grabbed the keys to the company car driven by Holden New Zealand Ltd managing director Kristian Aquilina, and headed south on a road trip to Taranaki.
'I'd heard all about the Hillsborough Holden Museum recently opened in New Plymouth, so I thought I'd drive down and take a decent look at it,' said Engle as he toured the facility with its owners Steve and Joy Fabish.
'What a great drive and a great museum. Great car too,' he said of Aquilina's company car, the new German-built Holden Commodore which is about to be publicly launched in New Zealand.
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Sao Paulo-based Engle was happy to be told all about the history of Holden product by both the Fabish family and another Taranaki Holden expert, Hawera's Dave Young who has some of his beautifully restored vehicles on display at the museum.
And on the way down to Taranaki he paid a surprise visit to Te Awamutu dealership Rosetown Holden.
'Actually I think they'd been warned that I might call in, because they were sort of waiting for me,' he said.
'But I just wanted to stop and thank the staff for the way they look after their customers.'
One feature of Barry Engle's roadie was that his route took him close to Eureka, the Waikato rural settlement where another leading General Motors executive, Dan Ammann, was raised.
'Actually I'd texted Dan the day before, sending him a photograph of the Auckland waterfront. He texted me back, asking if I'd seen any sheep wandering around.
'Now I have. There were plenty of them to be seen on my drive down to Taranaki.'
While in New Zealand, Engle detailed a multi-year $50 million investment in the future of the Holden brand in New Zealand.
'New industry-leading technology, a modernised retail presence, and new-generation vehicles will set up Holden for a great future,' he said at the official opening of a recently completed Holden Training Academy at Auckland's airport precinct.
The brand's dealer network has embarked on an upgrade programme across 51 locations throughout New Zealand, including 16 new store builds and major developments.
Holden is also introducing General Motors' Onstar technology as part of every new vehicle introduction from late 2019. This will give the vehicles to capability of connecting to the internet, enabling a suite of services including customers' ability to manage their vehicles remotely from their smartphones.
This level of vehicle connectivity is the beginning of Holden's pathway towards realising GM's vision for a future with zero collisions, zero congestion and zero emissions, said Engle.
'The connectivity of today's cars to its users and well as infrastructure is the first important step towards this mobility future,' he said.