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Joseph Sutherland is co-director and lead technician of Sutherland Performance.

Cars and motorsport have always been his passion.

He has worked in the automotive industry ever since leaving school, taking the chance to upskill wherever possible. Getting his foot in the door he started at Supreme Motor Group in Wellington as an assistant and groomer. He moved on from there to work as an automotive technician for Jeff Gray BMW, where he completed his National Certificate in Automotive Engineering (level 4).

For a brief stint he worked as a Sales Consultant and Junior Manager for Jeff Gray BMW before realising that his real passion was in the workshop. He then went on to work as an automotive Technician at Gazley Motors, progressing to become the Volkswagen Foreman. During his employment with Gazley he was an Authorised Warrant of Fitness Vehicle Inspector. During this time Joseph attended all available training, going on to achieve his Volkswagen Master Technician Qualification. In late 2017 Joseph felt that he could not make further career progress working in a dealership and so realised a long-held dream of starting his own business. In October 2018 he started work full time at Sutherland Performance. Given the success of the business, it has allowed progression into its own dedicated workshop from September 2019.

Meet the Team

Joseph
Sutherland

Managing Director & Lead Technician

Laura Wilkinson

Laura
Wilkinson

Co-Director & Administration

Royce
Evans

Workshop Manager

Mike
Monastra

Technician & Operations Manager

Brodie
Murdoch

Apprentice Technician

Josh
Ryder

Technician

Rebekah Curtis-Gunn

Administration

Michael
Ioffik

E-commerce & Marketing Manager

Oscar

Oscar
Sutherland

Technician Support

Charlie
Sutherland

Technician Support

Our Core values

  • Excellence – in personalised customer service
  • Integrity – honest and clear communication
  • Passion – to stay up to date with new technology
  • Efficiency – completing work as timely as possible
  • Culture of safety – contributing towards the safety of our roads
  • Value for money – quality products at a fair price for customers
  • Performance – maximising your vehicle’s full potential
Sutherland Performance Wellington

Testimonials

Had my 2013 Audi A3 1.8T remapped by Joseph, the car is so much more responsive, greater power through the rev range and fuel economy hasn’t changed, which is great! Joseph provided excellent service and gave me further advice on how to make my car run better etc. - highly recommend!

Vishal Nagar2013 Audi A3 1.8T

We had our Mitsi Challenger remapped last month. The economy has improved, there's an increase in power and reduction in turbo lag. Everything we asked for! Would definitely recommend.

Laura ThompsonMitsubishi Challenger

Wow! Joseph knows how to work magic on my vehicles. Firstly he performed a stage one tune on my D40 R450 Navara. The torque increase is fantastic, now 530 NM, great for towing my 3 tonne caravan or just getting away from the lights without holding traffic up! Secondly he did a stage one tune on our MK6 GTi Golf, I now look for any excuse to drive to shop the long way! Massive torque, massive fun!

Paul EteveneauxMK6 GTi Golf

Got my BMW tuned by Joe. Great job and great communication. Thanks again 👍

Ben SargentBMW

Joseph @ Sutherland Performance did a top-notch job of tuning my MK6 Golf GTI. He got some serious tire-shredding power out of my Golf and did a really good job at explaining step by step what was required so at all times I had complete peace of mind... If you need a tune Joseph is your man!!

James LyonMK6 Golf GTI

Sent my VW golf to Joe after being misdiagnosed by another mechanic. Car broke down and was spitting fuel from the exhaust. Was towed by aa to nearest auto electrician. Was told by the mechanic there that my car needed a new turbo at a cost of 3k plus labour and all the add ons. They also said that the new turbo may not even fix the issue! I mentioned their diagnosis to Joe who said the diagnosis did not seem sound. I sent my car to Joe and within literally 20 mins he had correctly identified what the issue with my car was. Not a broken a turbo! Joe save me time, money and a lot of stress! Could not recommend Joe more. Thanks Joe!!!

George GeorgiouVW golf

Just had my '09 VW GTI Pirelli tuned by Sutherland Performance. They were great and easy to deal with, friendly, and even fixed a blown tail light. And the tune is amazing. Like seriously amazing. Power delivery is smooth and more predictable than before. It's also much more than before. I'm a happy camper.

Tim Wright'09 VW GTI Pirelli

Had my partners mk6 gti chipped by Joe and it’s made a massive difference. Would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for some extra power and fuel economy from the car. A+++++

Steven Gordonmk6 gti

Joseph, at Sutherland Performance, did a first class job tuning our 2.5L diesel iMax van. The van now drives more smoothly, has less turbo lag and requires less gear changes on my regular 300km intercity trips. The price to do the high-tech job was really reasonable too and the tune job was turned around in less than five hours. Excellent value and results!

Alan Le Breton2.5L diesel iMax van

Had my Golf TDI tuned at Sutherland Performance. Not only did I gain more power but my fuel economy is even better. Great guy to deal with, Friendly but professional. Highly recommend. Thanks Joe!

Josh ElliottGolf TDI

Great service by Joseph. Stage one on our Golf GTi Pirelli really pleased. He has vast experience on VW's and offers great advice as well. AAAAA++++

Alan RussellGolf GTi Pirelli

Great job on effortlessly doing a resonator delete on my golf R! And to boot, Joseph noticed my key battery needed replacing so he just did! Thanks, bud really appreciate it. The golf sounds sweet.

Tim FowlerGolf R!

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