Covid-19 is preventing a leading New Zealand motor industry executive from retiring.

HE’S the world’s longest-serving Nissan managing director and wants to retire – but the Covid-19 pandemic is preventing it.

John Manley runs Nissan New Zealand. He was supposed to retire at the end of April after 39 years working for the Japanese brand – 20 of them in his present position.

The plan was for his role to be taken over by Ben Hamilton, on transfer to New Zealand from Nissan Australia. But then the pandemic hit, and both New Zealand and Australia went into lockdown – which meant the Australian couldn’t get across the ditch to take up his new job.

Not that it mattered – because Manley couldn’t do what he planned to do anyway.

“We were supposed to head off on a trip to Canada,” he explains.

“But then in what seemed the blink of an eye I was unable to retire, my wife Helen was made redundant as a flight attendant, our daughter was also made redundant, and we ended up stuck at home.

“It’s amazing how quickly things changed. Everything looked tickedy-boo – and then the whole world closed down.”

The plan now is for Manley to continue with Nissan New Zealand until his replacement can get across the ditch to his new job.

“It’s not a hassle at all,” says Manley. “All our plans went pear-shaped anyway, so I’m more than happy to help out.”

When John Manley does retire, he will finish as New Zealand’s longest-serving motor industry executive. He’s also considered to be the world’s longest-serving Nissan managing director.

His motor industry career began 39 years ago when he started work as a new vehicle salesperson at Newmarket Nissan in Auckland. Prior to that he was a bricklayer.

“I was sitting on a job one day, it was absolutely pissing down with rain and I thought ‘there’s gotta be more to life than this’.

“I flicked through a newspaper and saw this job advertised by the local dealer offering a car and the promise of pretty good money so I thought ‘that’s me.’ And that’s how it started.”

At that time the dealership was a factory shop, Nissan NZ’s head office was in Lovegrove Crescent in Otara, and the brand’s assembly plant and national parts warehouse was at Wiri.

 He progressed up the corporate ladder, becoming sales manager and fleet sales manager before being appointed dealer principal at Takapuna Nissan. Then in 1997 he moved to Nissan NZ as national sales manager, and was promoted to managing director three years later.

Manley took over the big job at a time when New Zealand’s motor vehicle assembly was in a state of flux.

The Government’s plan had been to gradually decrease import duty on vehicles over a period of years to allow the importation of fully-built up product. But in the 1998 Budget it instead made the sudden announcement to drop all import duties several years ahead of schedule.

This had an immediate effect of making motor vehicle assembly un-viable in New Zealand, and Manley – like the heads of every other brand involved in CKD assembly in the country – had to begin the process of shutting down assembly operations.

At that stage Nissan NZ had about 400 employees building 40 vehicles a day at Wiri. But thanks to their high levels of training, the vast majority were able to be re-employed in other industries by the time the plant closed down a few months after the Budget announcement.

“It created some immediate difficulties, but it was the correct decision and a better option than a slow wind-down,” Manley recalls.

“And from that point on we at Nissan NZ had access to a wider range of Japanese domestic product that had a greater specification level.”

From a business perspective the halt of CKD assembly, and move to a fully CBU regime, represented dramatic change. In one fell swoop Nissan NZ went from manufacturing to becoming an operation focussed more on sales and marketing.

Adding to complications at that time was the fact that Nissan Motor Company had entered into a strategic partnership with French manufacturer Renault to form what was known as the Nissan Alliance. Manley says this in itself caused a quantum shift in focus and priorities – all of which had a major impact on operations. But the impact was positive, he adds.

One such impact has been the ability to source product from all over the world. For example, today New Zealand sources a selection of vehicles from Japan, Thailand, USA, and United Kingdom that best suit the Kiwi motoring environment.

And the benefits of that wide international choice are best illustrated by what vehicles John Manley will take with him when he is finally able to retire. He’s going to have a Thailand-sourced Navara ute, while his wife Helen will have a United States-built Pathfinder SUV.

“That will cover every eventuality,” he quips.

And what does John Manley see of the future of the motor industry in New Zealand?

“I see the industry constantly evolving to meet the requirements of consumers,” he says.

“The current pandemic will provide further opportunity for revision, but basically we are a people industry – an industry building vehicles that fulfil consumer needs and aspirations. The personal interaction with the customer is the highlight,” he says.

And insofar as his career goes? Lots of memories, no regrets, plenty of quiet pride.

“Not a bad effort for a brickie, I’d say.”