Qualified. Homeowner. Humble.
Before his 20th birthday, Marcus Anderson had already completed his Level 4 automotive qualification, bought his first home, and become a valued team member at TDX Limited in Dunedin.
Marcus’s journey into the automotive industry began early. From around the age of five, he was “pulling wheels off things and making trolleys and carts that go downhill and then crash and fall apart,” he recalls. “Just enjoyed it.”
While at Bayfield High School, Marcus completed MITO’s StartUp® Ignition and StartUp® Accelerate micro-credentials, including work experiences across three different industry sectors—motorbikes, cars, and heavy machinery—in the same year.
“It was very similar to a normal apprenticeship, but it’s just a lot more straightforward,” he said of the experience. “Just simpler tasks—servicing, changing wheels.”
Offered apprenticeships in all three businesses, Marcus chose TDX, where he continues to grow his skills, working on Volvo diggers and motors, diagnosing electrical faults, and repairing damage from operator crashes.
“Mainly electrical faults really. Mechanical things go wrong, but everything just wears out eventually,” he explains. “It takes a bit of thinking and figuring out what is happening and why it's happening.”
This year, Marcus completed the New Zealand Certificate in Automotive Engineering—Plant and Equipment (Level 4). Typically a five year programme, Marcus achieved his qualification in just over two years.
MITO Training Advisor Gary Dench believes Marcus is a remarkable person, and one for others to look up to.
“Marcus has a unique ability to retain information,” he says, explaining how easily Marcus would recall specifics of his training to great accuracy. “I would say his attention to detail and his administration skills would probably be 10 out of 10.”
Earlier this year, Marcus and his brother bought a 1980s house with a big garage. “Yeah, the garage certainly helped!” he admits. “But it’s just a good house too.”
He credits his financial discipline for achieving the milestone at such a young age: “I just don’t buy things you can’t afford. Which a lot of people seem to do.”
Quiet, humble, and focused, Marcus doesn’t talk himself up—but his achievements speak volumes. He’s proof that with curiosity, discipline, and the right support, success can come early.
L-R: Parts correspondent Cameron Gardiner, Marcus Anderson, Service Manager (Lower South Island) Thomas Chettleburgh.
