Ford NZ boss Annaliese Atina heading to Vietnam
Words: Richard Edwards
Ford New Zealand managing director Annaliese Atina is leaving to run Ford Vietnam from 1 December, and Ford has not yet said who will replace her.
Atina will move to Hanoi, reporting to Andrew Birkic, who as head of Ford Australia and New Zealand hired her in 2024 from outside the car industry. She had run large customer and sales operations at One NZ and Coca-Cola Amatil, and Ford broke with its usual practice of promoting from within its own ranks to appoint her.
Ford says it will announce arrangements for the New Zealand leadership in due course.
Her two years have been busy ones for Ford buyers. At the Ford Uncovered event in Melbourne this month she set out a plan to double the share of the market Ford competes in, using product from the company’s Chinese joint venture for the first time. The Transit City electric van at $58,990 arrives in January and the Bronco Basecamp range-extender SUVfollows in the second half of 2027. She also told us Ford NZ was not ruling out the Fathom electric ute or a battery electric Bronco.
Ford is funding a New Zealand-specific towing and braking test to get the Ranger Super Duty through NZTA’s exemption process, and Atina told us this month that the seven-year warranty Ford Australia has introduced was under consideration for New Zealand, with no date set.
Ford’s two Auckland dealerships also change hands at the end of October, when Armstrong’s takes over North Harbour and John Andrew Ford, the first part of the Eagers sale to be approved.
“It has been a privilege to lead Ford New Zealand over the past two years,” Atina says. “I’m incredibly proud of what the team has achieved together in strengthening our customer experience, supporting our dealers and driving commercial growth.”
Birkic says her commercial leadership and focus on customers and dealers strengthened the New Zealand business, and that Ford Vietnam will benefit as it builds on recent momentum.
Ranger remains New Zealand’s best-selling vehicle after ten years at number one, Everest leads the large SUV segment and Mustang is the top-selling sports car.
