In top trade role

The Motor Trade Association (MTA) has its new chief executive starting on April 18.

Lee Marshall, who will be taking over from interim CEO Ian Pike, has spent the past 12 years in management roles in the carrental industry.

Lee Marshall

“Joining the MTA is an opportunity to learn about something different,” he says. “I’m looking forward to getting started.

“It’s a long-standing, proud organisation that’s of a scale no other trade association for the automotive industry can really compare to.”

Bob Boniface, MTA president, adds: “We’re looking forward to Lee driving our strategy objectives to the next level and evolving the association into the future.

“Lee steered Avis Budget through the Covid-19 pandemic, and was heavily involved with the consolidation of Avis Budget and Apex Car Rentals.

“Also, I would like to thank Ian Pike for his invaluable contribution over the past 15 months. He has been instrumental in gaining momentum on projects aligned to our future goals.”

Marshall joins the MTA having been Avis Budget Group’s general manager for New Zealand for three years after starting with the company as GM of Apex Car Rentals in late 2019.

Prior to that, he was director of operations at Ezi Car Rental NZ and commercial manager at Jucy Group over a period of almost two years.

Those positions were preceded by four years at Ezi. He started as the Queenstown branch manager in early 2014 before becoming national fleet and operations manager almost two years later.