The secrets to the longevity of Toyota Quezon Avenue revealed as one of the country’s first Toyota dealerships celebrated its 35th year of operations recently.
Business longevity, according to study, requires resilience, adaptability, innovation and strategic planning. Toyota Quezon Avenue, which is celebrating its 35th year in the local automotive business is one such company that has surpassed the test of time. But the rudiments mentioned above are not just the things that make TQA one of the longest-standing automotive dealerships in the country.
“It’s the people,” shared TQA executive vice president and general manager, Franklin Lim, when asked what their secret was for staying in the business for so long during an exclusive interview with Inquirer Motoring.
“It’s the men and women who have worked with us all these years that have made it possible for us to go this far,” he added.
“We could not have done it without their tireless efforts.”
Humble beginnings
The Lim family first ventured into the automotive industry in the early 70s by supplying parts and services.
“From my father’s earnings of P100 per month during that time, he was able to save and accumulate about P10,000. This was enough for him to be able to start a parts and supply center together with my grandfather,” Lincoln Lim, president of TQA, meanwhile divulged, likewise taking part in the interview, alongside his brother Franklin.
According to him, through consistency and hard work, they were able to put up Celica Motors, a dealership under Delta Motors before the latter closed down in 1983.
Then, by some sheer luck, perseverance and determination, they were able to find a way to obtain a 3,000- sqm lot along Quezon Avenue which would eventually become the home of their first Toyota dealership up to this day.
By February 27, 1989, their dealership operations, now under Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP), were in full swing. In fact, in its first year alone, TQA was able to make it to the Top 100 corporations. In turn, TMP awarded them the coveted Dealer of the Year award for their outstanding performance in vehicle sales, parts sales, service and finance and administration.
Succeeding milestones
In 1990, TQA sold 3,280 vehicle units and produced the single largest monthly sales volume of 450 units in June that year. Also, it was the year the dealership won the first Toyota Service Skills Olympics, generated 43 percent of total genuine parts sold nationwide and claimed its second Dealer of the Year award.
In 1995, the dealership expanded its facilities by constructing a five-storey stockyard and expanding its service area. Today, it has about a 20,000-sqm floor area or approximately two hectares.
In the years that followed the dealership captured the crown of the First-Dealer Kaizen Competition, a contest for parts department personnel, and was a recipient of “Department Award of Excellence”, “Marketing Professional of the Year” and “Service Advisor of the Year” accolades. It also bagged the Toyota Dealer Success Program Award.
They were also victorious in the ever-competitive Toyota Vios Cup races on the track for a couple of years.
In 2014, TQA celebrated its 25th year in service.
100,000 unit sales milestone
After five years, in its 30th year in service, TQA sold its 100,000th unit, making itself the fastest dealership to ever reach such an achievement among TMP’s extensive network of more than 70 dealers nationwide.
In a speech during their celebration that time held at the Music Museum in San Juan City, Franklin said, “When we opened Toyota Quezon Avenue more than 30 years ago, we made a commitment that we will blaze the trail in providing unparalleled service to our customers and to be an industry leader.”
“With Toyota’s excellence in designing and producing cars that expertly respond to the needs of all , we remain inspired to complement their products with our dedicated sales team and automotive service personnel,” he added.
For them, despite achieving the milestone, the journey toward getting it was not an easy feat.
“We had to face many heartaches, difficulties, and trials,” he continued.
Nonetheless, they had to remain steadfast in their quest to provide exceptional service and support to its customers. Here, they also attributed the achievement to their former president, Felipe Li, who led the company until 2007 or the first 19 years of their operations.
“He always reminded us that to be successful in business we have to make sure our customers are always satisfied and happy with our service,” Lincoln, on the other hand, shared.
The most difficult challenge yet
Of all these years of the dealership’s operations, it is to be understood that it was not always sunshine and rainbows. But the most challenging of all the trials TQA had to endure was the recent global health crisis.
“Nobody saw it coming,” Franklin said.
“We never imagined that something like this would ever happen in our lifetime. Everything stopped. It was like something cut straight from a movie. It was all surreal.”
He further shared how difficult it was for them to operate during those times of the height of the pandemic.
“Since we were a non-essential business, for several months, we couldn’t operate properly. There was no business for us whatsoever,” he continued.
Despite this, the company’s heart for its employees all the more prevailed.
Mary Grace Manansala, TQA AVP for Human Resources and Administration, alongside Elaine Pre, the company’s vehicle sales manager, John Cicero Arciaga, AVP for After Sales and the rest of the managers who joined us during the interview personally experienced the compassion TQA showed to its employees.
“Ma’am Pacita herself was the one who doled out from her own pocket the money she gave to each one of us,” Manansala shared, referring to the generosity of the matriarch of the Lim family.
“She made sure everyone had something, from the guards and janitors to our managers,” meanwhile chimed in Pre, a thirty-year veteran of the company.
“She even made sure that when we’re sick, we’re properly taken care of,” Pre added.
According to them, they all had food packs and medicines ready for distribution and brought to their own homes, if necessary.
“Travel bubble” during the pandemic
One of TQAs remarkable trait is giving its annual internal travel incentives to further motivate its team members. And yes, the pandemic did not stop the company from doing it. Following the basic government protocols, the company’s EVP and GM felt the employees deserved to travel, and so, he designed a “travel bubble” and brought the team to El Nido Resorts in Palawan, wherein they enjoyed the whole island exclusively.
In fact, they were even the first-ever company in the country to be given the “Travel Bubble” privilege when tourism restrictions finally eased after almost one year into the pandemic in early 2021. That time, only TQA personnel occupied the whole island in El Nido, including its doctors and servers. The local government of the province even approved of the activity, giving them our very own local Navy to assist them.
“We were about 75 employees who were given that as our incentive trip,” Pre further explained.
Employees are like family
“Here, we saw how they treated their employees like their own family,” she continued.
In turn, after those critical moments during the pandemic, Franklin Lim shared that their employees were never the same again.
“It’s like something changed in them. They became more mature. They seemed to love their job more,” he said.
“Mas may malasakit sila sa trabaho nila ngayon.”
“Because of the compassion we have shown to them during the crisis, they are now returning the favor,” he said.
“Personally, I started working here when I was in college. I was a working-student at that time. I have been working here for 35 years starting as an OJT-service tech. Eventually, I worked myself up,” Franklin further discussed how the company he helped grow and evolve, together with his brothers and sisters, through the years.
He even shared that the average of their employees have been working for them for more than 20 years.
“We have about 260 employees and they seem to enjoy what they do. In fact, the oldest working for us have been here for about 40 to 50 years. They have been here since my father’s first company.”
Toyota Quezon Avenue’s vision: “To be the excellent Toyota dealership, where employees are happily engaged and customers are loyal and delighted” have always been the guiding principle of the company since time immemorial.
“We make sure that every employee knows this. They should not just memorize it, but also know this by heart,” Franklin shared.
