On Wednesday the 14 December 2022, at Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, Mr. Akio Toyoda, President & CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation, and Mr. Noriaki Yamashita, President of Toyota Motor Thailand Co. Ltd., led the “Toyota 60th Anniversary Celebration in Thailand”, wherein they expressed their deepest gratitude to all the stakeholders who made this momentous milestone possible. Several distinguished guests from various fields were also present to join the celebration and offer their congratulatory messages on the impressive landmark, including Mr. Supattanapong Punmeechaow, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy. This exclusive event emphasized the company’s desire to make Thailand a significant hub for the production of vehicles, including electrified vehicles, as well as highlight its mission and approach towards achieving “Carbon Neutrality”, while building on the past and present strengths of the country.
Established on 5th October 1962, Toyota Motor Thailand Co. Ltd., (TMT) played a role to build and expand the Thai automotive industry over the years, including through supply chain development, business investment and ongoing car production. Since its launch, it has achieved a cumulative sales of more than 7 million cars. Furthermore, the company has actively contributed to position Thailand as a Global export base, with more than 5 million units exported to markets around the world. In addition to its role within the automotive industry, the company has constantly worked to be the “Best in Town”, a principle aimed at improving the quality of life of Thai people through social development and innovation projects.
On the special occasion of the 60th Anniversary of operations in Thailand, the company shared its practical and sustainable approach to achieve “Carbon Neutrality”. To pursue this ambition, Toyota as a “full line-up maker of electrified vehicles,” unveiled its “Multiple Pathway” approach to decrease emissions of greenhouse gases with speed and scale, while continuing to enable development and opportunity for the people through “Mobility for All”. Recognizing the diversity in every country, including from the consumer usage needs, buying power, energy mix, infrastructure readiness and industry capability, Toyota has developed all the electrified and alternative energy technologies to provide a feasible green choice for everyone. The electrified drive trains include Hybrid Electric Vehicles, Plug in Hybrid Electric Vehicles, Battery Electric Vehicles and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles. Furthermore, on this occasion, with the knowledge that over half of the Thai market is dominated by pick-ups, a prototype of a battery electric pickup truck (Hilux Revo BEV Concept) was showcased. As part of Toyota’s multiple pathways approach, and understanding the diversity and dependence of automotive business towards 12% of Thailand’s GDP, Toyota also unveiled the Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engines Vehicle (HICEV) prototype for the first time in Asia. This gives a glimpse of the future, and shares Toyota’s belief that the way to achieve Carbon Neutrality is by increasing choice, not narrowing options. By providing choice, Toyota’s electrified vehicle sales in Thailand till date are over 150,000, helping to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by over 800,000 tons, equivalent to 97,000 rai of land or over 2.4 million trees.
The 60th Anniversary, also showcased the history of Toyota and the role played by the IMV (Innovative International Multi-purpose Vehicles) in the Thailand automotive industry’s global expansion. In the same vein, and to truly continue the role of Thailand as the ‘Detroit of the East’ and the ‘Pick up Capital of the World’, while offering mobility solutions for the everyday person and small and medium sized industries, the event showed a prototype of a multipurpose pickup truck, under the name “IMV-0 Concept,” that allows for greater and easier customization. This product was designed to adapt to the usage patterns and lifestyles of Thai customers.
The anniversary event was a declaration of the love and admiration Toyota has for Thailand and its wonderful people. In his poignant speech Mr. Akio Toyoda President & CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation said, “It has been a privilege to grow and prosper here in Thailand. It’s the people of Thailand who are most responsible for the celebration we are enjoying today, and I would like to thank them today from the bottom of my heart. For me, it’s not about how many cars we’ve sold here, because we want to contribute more to this country than just cars. We want to help foster economic opportunity. This was our goal when we selected Thailand to produce new global model, called IMV.”
“For me, the Hilux Vigo launch remains one of the fondest memories of my career. So as a way of saying thank you, I decided to create a brand new IMV pick-up trucks for Thailand, which are the IMV 0 Concept and Hilux Revo BEV Concept. Between them, they represent two different ends of the automotive spectrum, for different needs and different customers. One is designed to support economic growth, and the other one designed to support carbon neutrality and a better environment for all.”
“To achieve carbon neutrality, we must remember that carbon is the real enemy, not a particular powertrain. And frankly, BEV’s are not the only way to achieve the world’s carbon neutrality goals. At Toyota we believe in creating a full portfolio of carbon reducing choices for our customers from hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in electric vehicles, battery electric cars, and fuel cell vehicles. Also, we are pursuing hydrogen fuel options like these GR-Yaris and GR-Corolla hydrogen powered concept cars. As we work to achieve a sustainable future, I also believe we need to take a holistic approach to carbon neutrality.”
“We can’t reach carbon neutrality on our own. It must be a group effort and include other industries beyond automotive. Which is why I am so pleased to announce today our new partnership with Thailand’s largest private company CP. Together we can reduce Co2 by rethinking the way we deliver consumer goods through zero emission technology like fuel cell trucks and by making driving logistics more energy efficient with our connected technology. we will also expand CP’s current efforts to make clean hydrogen from bio-mass … like chicken manure. We are so eager to combine our powers for the greater good.”
“And I’m happy to say that this partnership will include other members of the Commercial Japan Partnership Technologies Corporation including… Daihatsu, Suzuki, Isuzu and Hino. CJPT was created to address the future of mobility in partnership with others in our industry…We brought our competitors together to unite and strengthen our efforts to build on this new opportunity for C02 reduction.”
“Once again, thank you cherished members of our global Toyota family. Together, I believe we can help make the world a better place. One smile at a time.”
The distinguished audience enjoyed the program, taking everyone back on a journey of nostalgia, but promising a bright and green future. Mr. Supattanapong Punmeechaow, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy, who honored the ceremony with his presence, congratulated TMT on this notable milestone and expressed deep appreciation to the company for its contribution to establish the automotive industry and support the government policies for people’s and society’s ultimate happiness. Mr. Supattanapong said,
“I would like to congratulate and thank you Toyota Motor Thailand Co., Ltd. on the occasion that the company has given confidence and trust to Thailand by operating its business here for the past six decades. The company has taken an indispensable part in developing the Thai automotive industry. It has supported the government’s policies thoroughly in terms of investment, automotive technology improvement, knowledge transfer, and world-class production technology. The business expansion has been continuous and is the production base for domestic sales and export. Moreover, it has consequently promoted employment. As of now, the company and its supply chain employ over 280,000 workers while still emphasizing on human resource development. This has laid a foundation for the development of automotive industry and its relevant supply chain and strengthen their growth so much so that the automotive industry has become one of the main industries that promotes the country’s economy.
“However, the global automotive industry is facing a new challenge. Hence, the Thai government is committed to promoting a transition from traditional automotive industry to the new era of automotive industry that aligns with Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs. The important aim for Thailand is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and Net Zero by 2065. Therefore, the energy reform plan is one of the strategic drivers. The cabinet approved specific measures to support the production of electric vehicles in line with the 30@30 policy.”
“Since Toyota has always introduced innovation to Thai people and always fulfilled the mission of the government. I firmly believe that, under the next generation of automobile, Toyota will present new value to deliver happiness and better mobility experience to Thai people while developing vehicles to support the carbon neutrality goal of the government. Essentially, the government is ready to support Toyota Motor Thailand in all aspects to promote the development of Thai automotive industry and grow together with the expansion of the Thai economy to help build a solid foundation and sustainability on both sides for years to come.”
For the past 60 years Toyota always aimed to be an integral part of Thai society and placed a strong emphasis on understanding the social context and needs of the Thai people. While maintaining such an objective, TMT could grow because of the dedication, skill and commitment of its employees and supply chain, allowing Toyota Thailand’s products to be renowned for high quality, durability, and reliability.
TMT has continued its pursuit of getting “Closer to the Customer” especially as it moves to become a true mobility company, and deliver ever better mobility experience, such as combining connected technology to create pleasurable journeys, deliver more value adding value chain offerings, providing multi-modal and car sharing services.
Beyond pure mobility, Toyota has significantly prioritized corporate social responsibility, and thus executed various social benevolent initiatives in all areas to become the “Best in Town” for Thai Society. The company’s contributions include Road Safety Campaigns through their “Toyota White Road” project that has been run for over 30 years; developing small business capability to promote the grass root economy through the “Toyota Social Innovation” project; enhancing the quality of life and providing opportunities to the underprivileged through the operations of “Toyota Thailand Foundation”; carrying out environmental governance in accordance with “Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050” which is a set of six visionary challenges that seek to eliminate negative environmental impact throughout the product life cycle assessment both within the production process and through end-of-life product disposal, as well as integrating collaborations in terms of environmental preservation across the value chain, and supporting environmental initiatives for the society through a wide range of activities under “Toyota Green Town”; or on how to adapt the infrastructure to support new mobility technology through the “Decarbonized Sustainable City” project, and so on.
Mr. Noriaki Yamashita, President of Toyota Motor Thailand Co., Ltd., further explained his vision and the approach of Toyota to support the people and government of Thailand as follows, “On behalf of Toyota, please allow me to thank the kingdom and Government of Thailand, business network, and the Thai people for their enormous support and kindness. Over the past 60 years, Thailand has played an important role in Toyota’s global growth and is one of Toyota’s highest volume production centers worldwide, ranking 4th, just behind Japan, China and the U.S. In fact, Toyota Motor Thailand has achieved many firsts in the ASEAN region. We are proud to be part of an automotive industry that has grown to become the 10th largest in the world and continued to invest in the communities and the environment.”
“In Japan, turning 60 years old is actually a very special occasion. We call it Kanreki which means rebirth or a return to the beginning. It’s a chance to start your life over to begin again with the wisdom you’ve gained. Today, Toyota Motor Thailand is celebrating its own kanreki with commitment to developing the business operations in all aspects. We’ll provide a seamless mobility experience through our connected digital platform giving our customers better service. We will collaborate with partners to study ways to make mobility more accessible, while we continue to work towards a zero-emission world in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals. We pledge to forever support and align our goals with the government of Thailand for both the environment, and for those who live in it.”
Mr. Noriaki Yamashita concludes, “We are humbled to have gotten this far, but we will never stop reaching towards tomorrow to make the lives of our customers, ever better and drive a better future together for the next 60 years and beyond.”
