Dunedin dealership wins top prize
Cooke Howlison Toyota in Dunedin has stood out from scores of other dealerships to take out the top prize at the annual Toyota and Lexus Business Excellence Awards.
The dealership beat 64 Toyota and Lexus stores across New Zealand to the Toyota Supreme Award, which recognises overall excellence in branch operations, market leadership and branch facilities.
Cooke Howlison has been a locally owned and operated company since 1895 and serves customers in Balclutha and Dunedin.
A new gong, the Citizenship Award, was added to Business Excellence Awards for 2022 and focuses on the dealership that supports its local community with the best initiative.
Ebbett Toyota in Hamilton won the inaugural prize for its “Community Moover”, a community van available to not-for-profit groups, schools, local sports teams, or other organisations to use, free of charge, as transport for events.
Neeraj Lala, Toyota New Zealand’s chief executive officer, says: “It’s great to see the community initiatives that are happening at individual store levels.
“The Community Moover initiative is a great showcase of how mobility can be shared and utilised across a community.”
Ebbett Toyota had a hat-trick of successes at the prizegiving held over the weekend of February 18 and 19 after it also collected the Parts and Accessories Excellence Award, and chief executive officer Tony Coutinho won the Leadership Award.
Lala explains the awards celebrate the annual achievements of its network and their contribution to keeping Toyota as the leading mobility brand in New Zealand.
“In 2022, we not only held onto our number-one slot against some tough competition and regulatory challenges, but we also successfully launched Let’s Go Places, a new company vision focused on sustainability, mobility and community,” he adds.
“Our stores are an integral part of this vision, as they deliver it to their customers and local communities they support.
“Despite the ongoing supply chain impacts in 2022, it was a very good year for our stores and the Toyota and Lexus brands with customer excellence and community at the heart of what they do every day.”
Lala also took time during the weekend celebration to acknowledge the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle on the company’s branches, particularly the Toyota and Lexus stores in Hawke’s Bay.
“Our thoughts are with our colleagues in Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne as they struggle with the massive clean-up and restoration of their businesses and personal properties,” he says.
