Toyota Opens New Financial Services Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
19 March 1999
Toyota Opens New Financial Services Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa, March 19 -- Toyota Motor Credit
Corporation (TMCC) today announced the grand opening and dedication of a new,
$20 million Financial Services Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The 110,000
square-foot facility provides service for more than 1.3 million customers of
TMCC, Lexus Financial Services and Toyota Motor Insurance Services (TMIS)
nationwide and employs approximately 400 from the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City area
with an annual payroll of over $10 million.
The three-story facility is located on a 7.9-acre site in the River Ridge
North office park development of Cedar Rapids. It consolidates TMCC and TMIS
personnel from two different buildings in the Cedar Rapids area, and provides
Toyota with the latest information technology to provide industry-leading
financial customer service
The Toyota Financial Services Center is expected to handle more than
3.6 million incoming and outgoing customer and dealer calls as well as nearly
5 million pieces of mail per year. Typical activities of the center include
basic account maintenance such as address changes, account status inquiries,
retail and lease payoff inquiries, verification of lessee insurance,
evaluation and payment of extended service contract claims and payment
processing. The center provides customer service on 1.3 million loans and
leases for 33 Toyota Motor Credit branches throughout the U.S.
"This new customer care center will provide our customers the highest
levels of service and customer satisfaction," noted Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A.
President Yoshi Ishizaka. "Thanks to new information systems technology,
lease customers will be able to deal with the same representative each time
they call. This kind of personalized service and one-to-one follow-up is
unusual in the automotive finance and insurance field."
TMIS first established operations in Cedar Rapids in 1991 with just 18
employees. It provides extended warranty products for owners of new and
pre-owned Toyota cars and trucks. In March of 1997, the operation was
expanded to include a call center to serve Toyota Motor Credit's finance and
lease customers.
As part of a program to increase efficiency, customer service functions
are being transferred from TMCC branch offices in other parts of the country
to the Cedar Rapids center. As a result, a new facility was needed to
accommodate the growth.
"This new facility is truly a customer care center where we focus solely
on our customers. Our representatives use the latest telephone and computer
technologies as tools to take care of our customers, who are the most
important aspect of our business," said TFSC Corporate Manager Don Doudna
Noting that Cedar Rapids is home for many corporate customer service
centers, Doudna cited the area's advantages. "Since we first established
operations in Iowa, we have found Cedar Rapids an ideal place to do business.
We have a talented and dedicated workforce, with a real sense of courtesy,
helpfulness and dedication."
Toyota Motor Credit Corporation is the eighth largest automotive lending
institution in the U.S. with annual sales of $12-5 billion. The organization
provides auto loans and leases to more than 600,000 Toyota and Lexus customers
each year. Toyota Motor Insurance Services makes extended service contracts
available to approximately 400,000 customers each year. The company raises
capital through corporate bond offerings, primarily in Europe and the U.S.
TMCC's profits benefit U.S. investors who hold more than $8 billion in TMCC
bonds.
TMCC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. the
sales, marketing and distribution arm of Toyota in the United States.