Toyota mum on exec's absence
Barataria: LOCAL automotive dealer Toyota Trinidad and Tobago Ltd has remained silent about the absence of a senior official at the company following an audit by its parent firm in Japan earlier this month.
Following reports reaching the Express newsroom that the audit found accounting discrepancies to the tune of several million dollars at Toyota's Trinidad and Tobago operations, the Express asked Toyota divisions in the United States for comment after local officials could not be reached. A question was also asked about the absence of a senior official at the company.
Toyota's Miami, Florida, sales and marketing division responded yesterday with regard to the senior official at the auto dealer's local operations.
The senior official “has not been terminated and is instead on a leave of absence due to personal reasons. Because of the nature of his leave, and in an effort to respect his personal privacy, we are unable to provide further details on this”, Miami-based Toyota Tsusho Americas Automotive Division Sales and Marketing general manager Harry Bodan said in an e-mailed response yesterday to Express enquiries.
He said operations at Toyota's offices in Trinidad and Tobago will not be affected while the official is not there.
“However, rest assured that during his absence, the daily operations are being handled by our local professional management team. We have full confidence our team will continue to provide the local Trinidadian consumer service levels that exceed their expectations.
“Should the need arise, our Miami office as well as our headquarters in Japan are ready and able to support the team in Toyota Trinidad and Tobago Ltd to ensure such standards are maintained,” Bodan said.
Asked for a comment on reports the recent audit found accounting discrepancies at Toyota Trinidad and Tobago Ltd, Bodan said: “Please note that we are unable to offer any comments on internal company audits as this is purely an internal issue unrelated to legal matters.”
No commentThe Express attempted to contact the official for comment repeatedly over the past two weeks.
On the first call that was answered on July 11, the responder hung up immediately after the Express reporter identified himself.
On July 15, the day the official's number was the only one dialled from the Express reporter's phone, a woman returned the call minutes later from a different number to find out who was calling “her boss' phone”, but hung up after she was told it was the Express.
Repeated text messages to the official sent via mobile phone, e-mail, Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp also remained unanswered up to yesterday.
Calls and messages to Toyota's managing director, Andre Baptiste, for comment on the recent developments at the company have not been returned.
Founded in 1937, Japan-based Toyota is a global automotive company with production in 29 countries and sales in more than 170 countries, its website says.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/20160722 ... cs-absence
