The 2015 Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel cell vehicle out in front as the Official pacecar for NASCAr last weekend. Click to enlarge.

The Toyota Mirai, a hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle, has been used as the pace car at the Toyota Owners 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway, Virginia at the weekend.

The Mirai is the first hydrogen-fuelled vehicle to head a NASCAR race. It led the Sprint Cup Series field to the starter’s green flag at Richmond on Saturday night Eastern USA time while emitting only water out of its tailpipe along the way.

"Having a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle pace the Toyota Owners 400 is a historic moment for both Toyota and NASCAR and we're proud it's the Toyota Mirai," said Ed Laukes, vice president of marketing, performance and guest experience, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. "Bringing the Mirai to Richmond to lead this important race is another way for Toyota to showcase our innovation and environmental leadership."

The award winning Bowater Toyota Parts & Accessories Dept with the 2014 Toyota Excellence Cup. From Left: Kieron Reilly (Manager), Gary Fitzgerald (Motueka), Emma King-Turner (Nelson), Barry Roach (Nelson), Gordon Palmer (Richmond)

Can you find a needle in a haystack?
Are you a fully fledged 10,000 piece JigSaw master?
Does the self assembly instruction sheet in the box of DIY flatpacked furniture present a suitably exciting challenge?

The skills required to be part of an award winning team that brings home the Parts Excellence Cup from Toyota in both 2013 and 2014 are varied and not what you would expect. For us it is all about communication - the ability to talk to our customers open and honestly, and the ability to grow our network on a local and national scale by engaging with all walks of life whenever the situation arises.

If you own a vehicle, or manage a fleet of them for your business or your job, you will have an appreciation for a great relationship with your Parts Dealer. Vehicles need repair. Always. As they age things wear, and accidents will always happen. Both situations mean repair or replacement. This can be a complicated process sometimes depending on your vehicle, the age of it and whether or not it is an import. 

The Bowater Toyota Parts and Accessories Department has won the coverted Parts Excellence trophy back to back partly because of the ability of the team to act locally, as well as nationally, but most importantly to think globally. Communication has been key to this success. The team has the ability to talk easily to their customers, more powerful though is the skill of listening to what the customer needs.
If you are a business and downtime means lost income it is paramount that any time in a workshop is kept to an absolute minimum. Having the right part to your doorstep, or to the workshop your vehicle is at is critical. Having a firm grasp of the stages in this process is what makes for a successful Parts Advisor, and this is exactly the kind of person we are looking for.  

WINNERS! The proud management team from Bowater Toyota holding just some of the trophies from the annual 2014 Toyota Dealer Awards. From left: Nigel Last-Harris (Sales), Aaron McLean (Sales), Alistair Mapperley (Finance), Bowater Toyota CEO Tony Bowater, Sandie Horne (Admin), Kieron Reilly (Parts), Chris Westley (Service). Click the image to enlarge

"This is a reflection on the whole team across the region, and testament of what great teamwork can achieve" 

Bowater Toyota's CEO Tony Bowater and his wife Janine headed to Toyota New Zealand's home base in Palmerston North for the glittering, star studded black tie annual Toyota Dealer Awards on Friday 13th February. Tony was quietly optimistic of returning to Nelson with some awards in tow, and by quietly optimistic we mean very understated and totally downplaying the chances of such a clean sweep even though they were to find out that Bowater Toyota were finalists in 6 of the 8 categories they could be elegible for. 

What actually happened at the awards was something quite unexpected, but delightful and very humbling never the less. Bowater Toyota dominated the awards, bringing home 3 trophies including the prestigious and coveted Yokoi Cup for Dealer of the Year. This is awarded for overall excellence in dealership operations, market leadership and dealership facilities, and is the first time since the award was rolled out in 1985 that the Bowater Toyota name has graced the side of this very important recognition.

From Left: Alistair Davis (Toyota NZ Managing Director & CEO), Tony Bowater (Bowater Toyota CEO), Janine Bowater, S. Teramoto (Toyota NZ Senior Executive Director). Click image to enlarge.  

Also won on the night were two more major awards - the New Car Sales Excellence Cup, as well as the Parts & Accessories Excellence Cup, trophies that Bowater Toyota also won the previous year (2013). To top it off the night didn't end there, with additional recognition, with Bowater Toyota receiving the Platinum Award for achieving a level of excellence that significantly exceeds that of similar sized dealerships in all areas of operation, as well as the Triple Crown Certificate; recognition that the dealership came in on top of sales for passenger, commercial and Total New vehicle sales in the region.