The Women with Drive (WWD) program is designed to celebrate the contribution of women in the automotive industry.

The first Cox Automotive Australia WWD Challenge took place on the south island of New Zealand over seven days at the end of March.

Ten ambitious women from across the Cox Automotive Australia brands were selected to join CAA human resources director Snezana Jankulovski in activities including mountain biking, trail hiking, helicopter rides, kayaking, jet boating and icy plunges into alpine lakes.

Participants were also confronted with mystery tasks to test the boundaries of both mind and body.

The company said the program is an inclusive movement built to support female achievements, aspirations and successes, with a ‘think big’ attitude and a space for every voice.

Ms Jankulovski said in a statement that the program originated at Cox Automotive’s global headquarters in Atlanta, in the US, in 2015.

“The Women with Drive New Zealand Challenge was originally inspired from our UK Cox Automotive business which took on Mount Kilimanjaro last year to inspire and empower the women within their business,” she said.

Ms Jankulovski said the challenge was designed to push the team of women out of their comfort zones and motivate them to push past barriers. The team faced challenging tasks daily, to “teach us all resilience, how to lead as a group and to bring out even more of the strength that resides within us”.

As part of the challenge, CAA is on a mission to raise funds to support UN Women, a charity that supports women and girls to promote empowerment and gender equality by working on key projects worldwide to achieve their priorities.

The team on the WWD challenge set out to raise more than $7500 for their selected charity and supporters are being encouraged to donate to the cause.

By John Mellor