580+ Years of Expertise - Go Team Suzuki!

A person roughly spends one-third of their lifetime at work, often switching jobs every couple of years. So what’s in the engine at Suzuki New Zealand — where it’s not uncommon for their staff to be at Suzuki for many, many years.

With an average tenure of 11.6 years from a team of 50, there is no shortage of talent and knowledge across the car, motorcycle and marine industries at Suzuki. Together the team has over 580 years of combined Suzuki experience across sales, service and parts support.

In 2024, Suzuki New Zealand celebrated 40 years. In this time, they have not only built long-lasting relationships with customers and dealerships across the country, but also within their organisation.

Gary Collins, CEO of Suzuki NZ says,

“For many years Suzuki has been a part of the local Whanganui community, and at the heart of our success are our people. Their expertise, enthusiasm, loyalty and sense of fun keep us moving forward, making it a great place to work.”

Before landing the top job as CEO of Suzuki NZ last year, Gary has had various roles over the last 31 years with the company. After finishing university, Gary joined Suzuki NZ and has been involved in the automobile department, everything from sales, marketing, events, sponsorship and dealership support.

Matt Shepherd, another long term member of the team, has been working at Suzuki in the Parts and Accessories division for over 44 years.

“I joined Suzuki after working at the Waiouru Military Camp. I was actually hired by another long term Suzuki employee, Dave Kitt and stayed because I saw the automotive industry as a long term career. I took in all the product knowledge that was freely available from Suzuki team members and found it was good to work for a company that wanted people to succeed and progress the Suzuki brand. In my latest role as Assistant Manager of Parts & Accessories, I’m discovering new challenges that suit my warehouse and logistic experience — introducing processes that strengthen our business growth and support our dealer network is a very rewarding aspect of this new role.”

With 31 years, Mike Wink, has been the friendly and calm voice behind the Motorcycle and Marine team offering support to its many Suzuki dealerships nationwide.

“I’ve had the pleasure of working with a great dealer network and the team at Suzuki New Zealand help ensure there is never a dull day”.

Another integral person in the supply chain, moving Suzuki’s from ports to warehouses to dealerships is Unit Control Manager, Dave Kitt. With over 48 years of experience, Dave also manages to find time to look after the building maintenance and make sure the fire drills run like clockwork.

“Suzuki has had such a long history here in Whanganui and I started with the company back when we were assembling vehicles here. While there were a few more antics back then, the one thing that has remained the same is the great group of people that I get to work with each day. You spend a lot of your life at work so it’s important you enjoy the company of your colleagues and Suzuki has been a special place for me to spend the majority of my career”.

Even the Accounting and HR department are not without their long-standing veterans of knowledge. With 25 years at Suzuki, Margaret Stanley has seen many changes.

“One of my favourite changes across the years has been watching the younger faces making their way through the ranks and the demographic of the staff change over the years. In a male dominated industry it’s nice to see more females taking on the challenge and working across all parts Suzuki . I’ve also seen different parts of the business fluctuate, with each having had a moment in the spotlight.”

While these are just a few, there are many more at Suzuki who have reached significant milestones – 5, 10, 20 years and contributed to Suzuki’s success.

So when you are wondering about who Suzuki is, they’re the ones supporting their dealerships, their customers and each other.