Rod Milner was recognised at Friday’s Imported Motor Vehicle Industry Association’s celebration of 25 years – both as a founder, and with a surprise Supreme Award for his work.
Milner has had a long career in the industry, including as managing director of Subaru in New Zealand, and as both a franchise and used import dealer.
He was one of the early proponents of the import trade, and was heavily targetted by investigations and campaigns around odometer winding – although ultimately cleared.
Milner was introduced with a clip produced in the early 1990’s, explaining his place at the beginning of the association.
Milner was humbled at the announcement of the Supreme Award.
“All I can say is thank you very very much, I’m just so humbled and speechless,” Milner told the crowd of 420. “I know a few years ago I won another award but this one is just absolutely supreme and I do thank you all, and I mean all of you, from the bottom of my heart, because again without you all, without those dollars, we just couldn’t have done it.”
Milner was referring to the money provided by importers at the start to the association and fight to ‘keep the doors open’.
He explained that to him, the import business was about more than just money.
“Right at the start, we did it for bucks, but it became more than that, it became a mission,” he explained. “In 1981 my young brother-in-law was killed on a motorbike and it became a personal mission for me, to get kids off motorbikes.”
