Hat-trick for Bowater Toyota at awards

Nelson’s Bowater Toyota has won 2016 Toyota Dealer of the Year at the annual Toyota Dealer Awards held in Auckland over the weekend. The trophy, awarded for “overall excellence in all aspects of dealership operations” is the third in a row for Bowater Toyota. The family-owned dealership, with showrooms in Nelson, Richmond and Motueka, beat out finalists Rutherford & Bond Toyota, from Wellington, and Miles Toyota, in Christchurch, for the award. Bowater Toyota also received the Used Vehicle Excellence Cup and the Parts and Accessories Excellence Cup at the ceremony. Bowater CEO Tony Bowater said the awards reflected his team’s community-focused business ethos. "The winning formula we have, in short, is the people. We are immensely proud to stand behind our region and feel their support of our business. These awards are a reflection of our region and the wonderful culture we have here,” he said. Points are accrued throughout the year by dealerships in fields such as commitment to company growth, investment in people development and training, customer experience and sales target achievement, with the three highest-scoring dealerships going on to become finalists. Other awards were also presented on the night. Tasman Toyota won the Service Excellence Cup and the President’s Trophy for Outstanding Customer Satisfaction. Manawatu Toyota was presented with the Excellence in Leadership award, and Hawke’s Bay Toyota won the Financial Services Dealer of the Year award. Lexus of Wellington was named Lexus Dealer of the Year, and Wellington-based Rutherford & Bond Toyota received the Toyota Financial Services President’s trophy. The dealership awards have been running in New Zealand for more than 30 years, and Kerry Walker, Toyota New Zealand’s corporate manager of franchise development, said the awards were an opportunity to recognise high-performing and committed dealerships. “The awards program provides the ultimate recognition to those Toyota dealers that have both exceeded franchise standards, and gone above and beyond in meeting the needs of our customers,” he said.