Penske New Zealand has appointed Blake Hayward into the recently created position of national bus sales and operations manager.
He will be mentored by bus industry stalwart and Bus & Coach Association life member Paul Williams as part of a managed succession plan over the coming months.
Growing up in a family that owned a coach business on the North Island, Hayward has “buses in his blood” having worked in the industry from a young age, starting in an administration capacity and in the latter years working as operations manager, sales manager and finally as general manager.
He was involved in the growth of the company from a small coach business to a nationwide service after successful acquisitions of other bus companies, a shuttle service and the Naked Bus franchise.
“MAN has a long-standing reputation as a major supplier to the NZ bus market and I’m really excited to join the team at Penske NZ in representing such a quality world- class brand,” Hayward says.
The role will be pivotal in maintaining MAN’s market leading position and executing on Penske NZ’s low emission vehicle strategy.
Penske NZ general manager Brent Warner says the team is “delighted to have someone with Blake’s knowledge and skills onboard”.
“His previous experience gives him valuable insights from an operator’s perspective and combined with his enthusiastic attitude I am confident we can deliver powerful solutions that will make a difference to our customers.”
