Toyota President Akio Toyoda was in Coffs Harbour, NSW on Friday to personally see the end of a massive 72-day/20,000kms around-Australia test drive and training program.
As we’ve come to expect from Toyota’s energetic number-one, it was no ‘Royal Tour’ as he slipped-on the fireproof overalls and helmet and got behind the wheel of a Toyota 86 rally car to personally sample some of the grueling rally roads on the NSW North Coast –in fact the ‘Wedding Bells’ special stage as used recently in the Rally Australia round of the World Rally Championship.
“This challenge helps me deeply with my car-making intuition,” Mr Toyoda explained. “I believe that because we have passionate and committed people wanting to develop better cars, Toyota will be able to continuously develop cars that move and touch customers’ hearts.”
Australia was chosen for the mammoth undertaking – which included a gathering of LandCruiser clubs in Alice Springs and a performance by country and western star Lee Kernaghan – as Toyota reckons Australian roads replicate 80 per-cent of global driving conditions.
The 10-week test drive allowed visiting Toyota employees and executives to refine their skills so they can develop better cars for the company’s worldwide markets.
“Touring Australia reminded us that cars are vital partners in our lives,” Mr Toyoda revealed. “Any breakdown in the outback has the potential to be fatal.”
“In fact, after driving on so many roads, our team members’ expectations for future test-car courses will never be the same because of all the stark realities that they experienced.”
