Toyota Nigeria adopts new strategies to contain market slide
Typically to its Kazein spirit and what can be described as avclear departure to popular and conventional business approach in the face of economic recession ravaging the Nigerian industrial sector, including automobile industry, Toyota Nigeria Limited (TNL) said it has managed not to lay off any of its staff like its counterparts. Rather the 20 year old company said it is cutting cost and other areas of wastage to remain competitive.
Kunle Ade-Ojo, Managing Director, Toyota Nigeria Limited: revealed during the company’s quarterly press briefing recently disclosed that staff retrenchment is, at the moment, not in TNL’s recession management strategy, but would be constrained to embark on staff retrenchment as the last option.
As a result of the nation’s economic recession, which has virtually crippled the Nigerian auto industry, some auto marketing and assembly companies had had to sack workers as a result of drastic sales drop and inability to secure FOREX for importation of assembly kits and accessories. But Toyota Nigeria has been able to whether the storm and keep its staffs at work.
Answering questions during their fourth quarter media chat held at the company’s headquarter in Lekki, Lagos, the TNL’s managing director revealed that his company succeeded in keeping its staffs intact, by adopting professional management style, “reading the seed of time and planning ahead.
”Here in TNL, we adopt proper risk management approach,” he explained. “Rather than using fire brigade approach, we, in the last three, four years, far before the recession appeared, planned ahead. When we came into this year, we did the same thing. Although, the risk factor has been more than we planned, we never thought it is going to be this way; but as soon as we realized how the effect would be on us, we made certain changes.” He stated.
In the past, Toyota had been identified with big and glamorous product launches executed with much fanfare that is associated with huge expenses, but now that is now a thing of the past due to recession in the economy. There are also internal things done to ensure that the product is well known without spending big money like in the past.
Kunle Ade Ojo recalled that Toyota Nigeria Limited did a lot of cost reduction as far as our administrative cost is concerned. Toyota Nigeria Limited reduced cost to about 40%, because business is not the way it used to be and it more cost effective in some of the marketing activities we get involved in and constantly thinking: how to maximize profit without spending as much as it used to do in the past?”.
The company boss expressed delight that every employee understands the importance of this and this has made them to work together. People come together to share ideas. All hands are on deck.
TNL also has an award for any department which comes up with something reasonable that will impact the organization and there is an incentive or award given to them and so there is a lot of work going on internally.
“We all work closely to the benefit of the company. Every staff knows that if the company succeeds, it will benefit every one of us. According to him, each department in TNL has an improvement team that looks into what can be done to make the organization relevant and sustainable.” He concluded.
MIKE OCHONMA