But, the roots of TCNA have been growing since 1994, long before the connected car as we know it.
Recently, Managing Director of TC Japan and TCNA Board Member Makoto Ito came to TCNA to explain how the idea of Toyota Connected came to be, the transformation it has engrained in the entire Toyota culture and how TC’s past is helping shape its future.
Ito-san was one of the first Toyota Connected employees back at a time when Toyota Chairman of the Board Akio Toyoda was getting his early start in managing aspects of the automaker and its affiliates. Toyoda-san founded Toyota Connected, originally called GAZOO, wondering why the Toyota Production System – just-in-time supply chain and manufacturing – applied to the factory but wasn’t employed for how cars were sold.
Toyoda sought to optimize dealership experiences, shortening the time it took to get cars to customers. That evolved to creating customer kiosks at convenience stores in Japan.
“The internet was an extremely useful as a customer touchpoint,” Ito said.
GAZOO members continued optimizing process – kaizen – negotiating with convenience stores, launching business development teams and working with dealers on customer and dealer pain points.
Their work led to the first mission statement of Toyota Connected – to pursue ultimate customer satisfaction.
The company’s goal was to strengthen the relationships Toyota enjoyed with its customers, to help satisfy customer needs and wants quickly and efficiently. As it evolved into becoming Toyota Connected, it also brought a number of novel software solutions to market to benefit Toyota and Lexus customers.
Toyota Connected launched outside Japan for the first time in 2004, expanding to India in 2011 and the U.S. in 2016. Europe was among the later regions to add a local Toyota Connected in 2018.
“Unlike traditional TC Group subsidiaries, TCNA has had top management dispatched from Toyota Motor North America and has promoted localization since its founding,” Ito said.
This is a result of the unique position TCNA has in that North America has a strong foundation of software talent and high-tech capabilities that support Toyota’s and Lexus’ local market presence.
The goal for TCNA, specifically, has always been to innovate to implement solutions for production, not simply to act as a research organization.
As such, Toyota Connected and by extension TCNA are now strategic business units, vital to the success of Toyota companies the world over. TCNA is invested in the success of telematics, infotainment, data services and key areas where software development is crucial to the entire enterprise. It adheres to Toyota’s core principle of respect for people, sticks to a commitment for quality and constant improvement but moves at a speed and with processes aligned with modern software companies.
“There is no end to improving the customer experience,” Ito said.
In saying this, Ito shares his vision with the greater Toyota organization – to help create an ever-better mobility society. But, it does so with a different approach, focusing on innovative digital customer experiences that strengthen the connection between the driver and the machine.
