Toyota President celebrates this in a grand way
Toyota Motor Thailand Co., Ltd (TMT) turned 60 this year and to celebrate Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) held a ceremony in Bangkok, Thailand and roughly 1,500 people attended. Among the attendees were Supattanapong Punmeechaow, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy of the Kingdom of Thailand.
Also in attendance were other members of the Thai government, as well as representatives from local suppliers and dealers along with TMT President Noriaki Yamashita and TMC President Akio Toyoda who borrowed a “super tricked-out” Toyota Hilux from one of their customers to make a grand entrance.
Yes, you read that right, Toyota president, Mr. Akio Toyoda borrowed a Hilux pickup truck that, I imagine, has been heavily modified to make his entrance to the 60th anniversary celebration of Toyota Motor Thailand. I’m honestly a little jealous that Toyota does not do things like this here in Malaysia.
Moreover, in his speech, Mr. Toyoda stated, “Hello to all my friends in Thailand! Sawa DEE Krap! Because this is such an important occasion, I thought I should try to make as dramatic an entrance as possible. So I borrowed this super tricked-out Hilux from one of our customers. What do you think?”
President Toyoda later went on to joke about how he hoped the Toyota customer and owner of the modified Hilux would sell the car to him. TMT president, Mr. Noriaki Yamashita also explained that in Japan turning 60 is a special occasion called kanreki and means rebirth or returning to the beginning.
“It’s a chance to start your life over to begin again with the wisdom you have gained but with a fresh perspective and a renewed optimism. Today, Toyota Motor Thailand is celebrating its own kanreki. We are humbled to have gotten this far, but we will never stop reaching towards tomorrow, never stop trying to improve, never stop trying to make the lives of our customers ever better.” President Yamashita continued.
On top of that, President Toyoda also shared his desire to keep improving and push the Toyota brand forward in Thailand with the help of the people of Thailand. He even went so far as to say that if he was not required to live in Japan for work, he would live in Thailand as he considers it his “home away from home.”
He concluded with, “Ladies and Gentlemen, we may not share the same rivers and mountains, but we share the same sun and sky, and the same wish for harmony and happiness. As we look toward the future to the next sixty years, I believe there is no limit to what we can dream, no limit to what we can achieve, and no limit to what we can become. Because together, everything is possible. Thank you very much.”
