Zenith Media Australia has confirmed it will not compete in the pitch for Honda Australia’s media account after managing the account for 17 years as its media agency.
Jason Tonelli, CEO of Zenith Media Australia, said: “We would like to thank the Honda Australia team for a successful 17-year partnership.
“Honda is a fantastic brand, and it has been a pleasure to work with the business and help with its transformation over such a long period of time.”
Honda Australia declined to comment.
The automotive industry is set for a big year in 2024 as auto brands battle to grab share in the growing hybrid and EV category.
While Honda has unveiled big goals for its global EV strategy, including a goal to make more than 2 million EVs a year by 2030, locally the brand is behind its competitors when it comes to electric vehicles.
Earlier this year, Honda Australia announced it would focus on hybrid vehicles in the short term and would take a “medium-term” view of electric vehicles.
“We think hybrid is the right strategy at this point in time … we don’t have any plans at the moment to introduce [electric vehicles],” Honda Australia director and COO Carolyn McMahon said in March.
McMahon said the auto giant believed the local market was not ready to accommodate electric vehicles. Motoring experts speculated the move could put the auto giant behind competitors such as EV giants Tesla and BYD, as well as Toyota, Mazda and Subaru.