Japanese auto giant Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt. Ltd. (TKM) launched the Toyota Sales Education Foundation (TSEF) on 5th September in Greater Noida. Toyota signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Galgotia's Business School on Wednesday to flag off the project. The program aims at inculcating in students the traits of automobile sales during their post-graduation period and then hiring these students in their dealerships as 'sales officers'.
Commenting on the fruitful opportunity for students of the esteemed institution, the Director of Galgotia’s Business School, Dr. Renu Luthra, said “Industry Academic partnership is the only long-term sustainable process, where by the employability of management student can be improved. We at GBS are keenly looking forward to a mutually beneficial association with TKM as this is a great career opportunity for our students to develop industry relevant skills.”
Students pursuing Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) will be able to use this initiative by TKM to their advantage. The program will be so designed to match Indian educational standards as well as quality benchmark of Toyota. It fits the pattern of the curriculum with at least 5 hours per week to be allotted to the subject in the 6th trimester of PGDM. The module, which has been conceptualised and developed by TKM, will be equipped to train 40 students in a batch. A total of 40 hours of indoor teaching and 20 hours of on-the-job training, which will include research work and training, will help students get ready to be a part of the multi-national conglomerate. The 'on-the-job training' will be organised at Toyota dealerships itself to help students be acquainted with the site of the job and work with experienced professionals.
Vice President of Dealer Development and Sales at Toyota Kirloskar Motor, Sailesh Shetty said at the launch function, “The launch of TSEF as a special sales training module will enable us to provide the latest automotive sales training to students during their graduation and encourage these students to take up sales as their career. This initiative will also help generate employment opportunities for the students at Toyota Dealerships. We wish to expose the students to latest sales techniques used in the automotive industry, which will go a long way in enhancing their capabilities and give a boost to their careers in the long run.”
This is a smart step by Toyota that comes almost at the same time when the company has decided to expand their vehicle capacity in India by 50 per cent. With these attempts, Toyota is trying to rev up sales that have suffered lately due to high interest rates on car loans and rising fuel prices. It is noteworthy that vehicle sales of the brand grew by 10 per cent between April and July in 2012 in contrast with last year's sales during the same time. The company, which has witnessed growth of more than 30 per cent in recent years, will try to attain similar high figures in the time to come.
