Toyota Applauds UK Toyota Centres With European Customer Satisfaction Awards

EPSOM, UNITED KINGDOM – May 10, 2010: Three UK Toyota Centres have been awarded with the top honours at Toyota’s “Ichiban” European Customer Satisfaction Awards during a ceremony held last night at the company’s experience showroom located on the Champs Elysées in Paris.

The Centres involved, Border Toyota at St Boswells, Hodgson Group in Newcastle and WKB Waterlooville, were recognised for their exceptional performance in customer satisfaction in both Sales and After Sales areas. The award was presented to the Centres by Tadashi Arashima, Chief Executive Officer and President of TME.

Approximately 2,600 European retailers were evaluated on their results during a continuous performance monitoring, which is included in the company’s standards. Based on a very demanding set of selection criteria, 41 retailers achieved this distinct recognition by Toyota in Europe.

Speaking at the awards ceremony Mr Arashima said: ‘Customer First remains a landmark of Toyota philosophy. Each and every member of our team across Europe ensures to always deliver their best, with our Retailers especially committed to providing the best overall customer experience. Today’s winners are the best-of-the-best, as customer satisfaction is part of their everyday commitment to excellence.’

‘Ichiban’ is a Japanese word borrowed from ‘Okyakusama Ichiban’ which means ‘Customer First’, with ‘Ichiban’ meaning ‘first’ or ‘number one’. Since the start of TME’s annual Ichiban Awards in 2006, Customer Satisfaction performance of the Toyota retailers has improved by some 19 per cent in Sales and 13 per cent in After Sales.