This issue features Arigato Fes., a day to thank Toyota dealerships. We also spoke with sales legends who received the Special Achievement Award.
The Arigato Fes. was held in June 2024 to thank the dealerships that nurture bonds with customers.
With 4,000 dealership staff in attendance, the venue buzzed with demo runs by driver Masahiro Sasaki and Morizo and a special radio booth that revived the “DJ Morizo Handle the Mic" program for the first time in five years.
We also covered the workplaces of Hachiro Moriya (Yamagata Toyopet East Bypass Store) and Kazuhiko Taniguchi (Toyota Mobility Shin-Osaka), who received Special Achievement Awards at the ceremony.
Throughout his career, Moriya has recommended cars based on his customers' lifestyles. Who is this sales legend, and what does being a car salesperson mean to him?
Taniguchi has not only made over 4,000 vehicle sales but has also shown kindness in giving painstaking advice to his coworkers and junior colleagues. One of his junior colleagues, Takeshi Hayashi (Toyota Rental & Leasing Shin-Osaka), also received a Special Achievement Award. Standing on stage next to his senior colleague only added to his joy.
What Taniguchi values most is communication with Toyota. He has worked to build relationships where the manufacturer and dealership can broach even difficult subjects without walls.
Masahiro Morikawa, advisor to Netz Toyota Tochigi, who has shared the joys and hardships of improving dealership operations with Chairman Toyoda, spoke of these relationships in a 2019 Toyota Times interview, saying, "(Both dealerships and manufacturers) think seriously about their employees, their customers, and each other, for their own sake... As long as we discuss things based on these values, there are no taboos or hesitation."
He finished the interview by saying,
I hope that these precious opportunities to hear directly from President Toyoda will not disappear, even if they become less frequent.
Now that we face a once-in-a-century transformation, I believe that hearing passionate thoughts on transformation directly from President Toyoda will help dealerships unite as one and transform with courage.
The end of this video includes a message to dealership staff from “radio nickname Morizo.” This 25-minute episode also conveys the bond between Toyota and its dealerships, a tradition unbroken over generations. Be sure to watch to the end to learn more.