Whangarei Honda 2.96

Whangarei Honda began its roots early on as a vehicle dealer in the early 1970s under the New Zealand Motor Corporation. At the time NZMC was originally the licence holder for assembling cars in NZ at its Auckland (Newmarket) and Nelson plants, starting early on with British Leyland building complete knockdown kits such as the early Mini, and then Hondas from the mid 1970s. Around the same time NZMC established a dealership in Whangarei through acquisition of a site from Carr Motors on the corner of Rathbone and Dent Streets, the same site Whangarei Honda currently operates from today.

From the mid 1980s, the Honda Motor Company of Japan began to acquire assets from NZMC and purchased its controlling share in 1988 which lead to the closing of all manufacturing plants it owned, with the exception of the Nelson plant which remained producing Hondas until 1998. All dealerships also came under the Honda brand banner with the Whangarei branch becoming Honda Cars Whangarei. In 2002 Branch Manager Geoff Pointon purchased the business from Honda New Zealand and it became Northern Honda.


In June 2016, upon the retirement of Geoff Pointon, existing members of the Honda family Adele & Robin van Velden, owners of the Honda West Auckland service centre, agreed to take the reins of Northern Honda, with the intention of growing the company through increased investment in key areas, starting with changing the name from Northern Honda to Whangarei Honda.


Future plans to increase sales and service numbers at the dealership have all been focused around factors that improve customer satisfaction. These include renovation of the existing building to create an environment that is inviting and comfortable, relevant marketing including the creation of a new website, expansion into social media, and investment into the Whangarei community through financial support of local events.