Luxury Toyota Operation

As a young boy, Malcom King recalls watching Rod Millen drive a Toyota Tundra in the Race to the Sky motorsport event at Cardrona.

That was probably the beginning of an inspiration to provide a larger, more capable and more luxurious vehicle on the road, Mr King, who is chief executive of Glacier International, said.

Glacier International is now bringing the new Hybrid Sequoia 2023 SUV and the Hybrid Tundra 2023 SUV from North America to New Zealand and remanufacturing the vehicles to right-hand drive.

The process had already begun at the company’s base at Highlands Motorsport Park, in Cromwell, where prototyping was complete and injection moulding was under way.

Mr King, a trained Toyota technician, and his team would spend more than 240 hours remanufacturing each bespoke vehicle to right-hand drive.

There were 10 units available for the 2023 period. The first vehicles — which began manufacture in San Antonio, Texas, in September, were expected to land in New Zealand early next year.

Glacier International, which was founded in 2016, is the only dedicated Sequoia and Tundra remanufacturer in New Zealand. All vehicles it remodelled complied to Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency standards.

More than 1000 people had expressed interest in the two models which appealed to people "looking for something next level, something hybrid", Mr King said.

After 21 years of working with Toyota, Mr King said spending time in North America, which was open to business growth, sharing knowledge and working together, had a "massive impact" on him.

Getting away from the tall poppy syndrome was probably the best thing for him, as it opened his eyes to what was capable of being achieved if the mind was opened, he said.

Covid-19 had been positive for Glacier International, as New Zealanders had come to grips with the reality of supply chain interruptions. It was now common for people to wait for a vehicle — and they could not buy something else due to the supply chain issues.

The vehicles were attracting the next generation of high net worth individuals who were wanting more luxury and more capacity. "Now they can get it," he said.

First published at Otago Daily Times.

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