Managing Director of Honda NZ retires after 34 years
New Managing Director appointed
After 12 years as Managing Director and a total of 34 years in senior roles within Honda in NZ, Graeme Seymour has
announced his decision to retire at the end of March 2014.
In his long career with Honda, Mr Seymour has worked in senior finance roles for NZMC Limited, then in 1988 played a
major role in the establishment of Honda New Zealand.
In 2002 he was given the responsibility of Managing Director. This was a significant appointment as Mr Seymour was the
first non-Japanese Managing Director in Honda worldwide.
Mr Seymour’s leadership has been characterised by a high level of ethics and forward thinking. Innovations included
Honda’s Price Promise, an open and transparent pricing policy to remove unnecessary depreciation on new Hondas, and the
Treefund initiative.
Honda is pleased to announce that Mr Nobuya Sonoda, a local member of HNZ’s senior management team, has accepted the
appointment of Managing Director. Mr Sonoda has been with Honda New Zealand, in a number of roles, for over 12 years.
“Honda New Zealand will be in very capable hands moving forward with a strong management team and a dedicated dealer
network,” said Mr Seymour.
Mr Sonoda says, “2014 will be an exciting year for Honda in NZ. We have a number of new stylish, high tech models to
launch that will create a new level of customer expectation in the market.”
ENDS