MIA chief to retire
David Crawford will be stepping down as chief executive of the Motor Industry Association (MIA) next year.
He has given 12 months’ notice of his intention to retire with effect from March 31, 2023. There is also provision for a three-month handover period with a new chief executive, which would run from April 1 to June 30 next year if taken up.
Crawford, who has been working in the transport sector since 1996, was appointed by the MIA in September 2012 before starting in the February of the following year, so he has completed nine years as chief executive and is now into his 10th.
“I have really enjoyed my time working for the MIA and in the industry,” he told Autofile Online. “The job has involved everything from high-level strategic planning and thinking right down to the equivalent of doing the dirty dishes in the kitchen sink.
“It has involved having a wide range of expertise and knowledge. And it’s been great working with all the association’s members and I’ve never had a bad experience with them. It has been a good environment to work in.”
As for what happens when he is no longer working for the association, “at this point, I’m not making any decisions after leaving the MIA other than to say I’m looking forward to more time for some recreational pursuits”, says the keen motorcyclist.
Career full of variety
Crawford brought a wide range of experience to the association when he took over from Perry Kerr as chief executive of the MIA. The two are pictured below at Kerr’s leaving party at the Cuvee Bar at Ellerslie Racecourse, Auckland, on June 23, 2013.
He was acting director of minerals with NZ Petroleum and Minerals at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment when he found out he had got the job.
Crawford also owns DCAC Ltd, a small consulting company that specialises in managing work programmes and major projects. It also provides temporary senior executive support, public policy and regulatory advice.
Before joining the MIA, Crawford sat on the Motorcycle Safety Advisory Council and, up until May 2012, he was on the AA’s district council for Wellington.
Crawford’s previous roles included general manager positions for policy and regulatory with Land Information NZ from 2009-11, and land-transport environment and safety with the Ministry of Transport (MoT) from 2005-09.
He was executive director of the Petroleum Exploration and Production Association of NZ for three years, and also worked for Maritime NZ for nine years, the Department of Conservation and as a junior lecturer at Massey University.
Crawford is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport. He has a master’s degree in horticultural science in economics and marketing.
At the time of his appointment, the MIA’s outgoing president, Mark Gilbert, said: “David was chosen for his wealth of experience in the government sectors and for his time as executive director of the Petroleum Exploration Association of NZ.
“In this role at the MoT, he led the work on transport climate-change initiatives, including the government’s consideration of a CO2 fuel-consumption target, exhaust noise and harmful emissions rules, and the successful Road Safety To 2020 Strategy.”
Photo: © Darren Risby
