Josh Seabourne well and truly knows his Kia cars inside and out after emerging as the top Kia Motors service technician at the inaugural Australia-New Zealand Skill Cup Competition.

The Tauranga Motor Company senior technician took out the bi-annual event determining the best Kia service technician - the only Kiwi in the competition.

Josh Seabourne checking the diagnostic trouble codes and current data of a Kia car. Photo: Tracy Hardy.

Joshua will now represent New Zealand at the Skill World Cup Competition in Seoul, Korea later this year where he will go head-to-head against the top Kia technicians internationally.

After winning the national round, Josh battled five Australian contestants during an intensive one-day competition, not only testing practical skills but mechanical and auto-electrical knowledge.

"The pressure was on the whole time and I was really surprised when I found out that I'd won - it was a great feeling," says Josh, a senior technician with the Tauranga Kia dealership for more than two years.

The competition, at the technical training facilities in the Kia Motors regional headquarters at Homebush in Sydney, consisted of a written theoretical exam, followed by six separate practical assessments involving electrical board exercises, engine mechanical and then diagnosing body electrical, automatic transmission and engine management faults.

In front of one New Zealand judge and two from Australia, the six technicians were scored on process, work flow and outcomes with 100 points allotted for each assessment.

"I felt quite good about the theory, having done plenty of revision and the electrical board tasks went well, but one of the engines we were working on is not one I was familiar with, as it isn't available in New Zealand, so that tested me.

'And we weren't given enough time for the engine strip-down because it is important to follow the correct procedures."

Tauranga Motor Company service manager Fergus Edgar says the trained automotive technician is the company's star.

'It didn't surprise me that he won in Australia after seeing the amount of detail he put into the New Zealand qualification exam," says Fergus.

The win also pleases Kia Motors New Zealand technical trainer Nick Robinson due to the increasing level of skill among service technicians with higher technical training standards implemented by Kia Motors Corporation.