Toyota Motor Europe
Focus on a Member - March/April 2009
In this month's member interview, Stefan Crets, General Manager Corporate Social Responsibility and Colin Hensley, General Manager Corporate Affairs & Planning from Toyota Motor Europe discuss sustainability and stakeholder engagement from a car manufacturer's perspective.
Today's crisis brings our financial, economic and governance systems to an unprecedented moment of truth. In this light, CSR Europe is launching its "responsible business 2020" project where companies can focus on creating a new vision to rebuild trust and hope with their stakeholders, compete with integrity all while contributing to sustainable development. What does Toyota see as the driving forces for CSR over the next decade?
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| Stefan Crets | Colin Hensley |
The current financial and economic crisis has emphasised even stronger the need for sound corporate social responsibility management that goes far beyond ticking boxes, making sustainability reports and showing best practice activities.
Corporate social responsibility in Toyota's view is a matter of strategic business planning and continuous improvement of environmental, social and economic performance in order to create sustainable growth over the mid- and long term.
The vision of the company as such should already focus on these elements. For Toyota this is expressed in our CSR policy. But vision and principles are not enough. Trust in such a vision (and thus in the company) can only come if the company regularly checks how well it lives up to this vision and what its actual performance towards its stakeholders is.
The key challenge for a CSR division is to make this assessment based on the full facts and subsequent improvement plans (in all divisions, in all countries) possible. The first condition for CSR stays therefore to have a sound management processes based on clear measurement and efficient divisional and regional planning processes.
More in general, CSR in a company will also need to be able to bring into the company the mid- and long term societal challenges and to make the company act upon them as a business.
As a car manufacturer, what are some of the key CSR issues on your agenda?
For a car manufacturer the first challenge stays of course the environment, but also road safety and quality of life in general are issues we have to act upon. For example, societal and customer awareness of environmental issues show that customers now want to buy even more hybrid vehicles like the Prius compared to ten years ago when the car was launched first.
But increasing globalisation and interdependence also brings up the challenge of supply chain management on the agenda. Sustainability challenges are per definition complex and therefore companies, its suppliers and stakeholders (including customers) should work together to make real progress possible. How to create and sustain such an action oriented partnership approach might be the main operational task for a company to accomplish.
Toyota participated as a business representative in the European Commission's Multi-stakeholder Forum for CSR in February 2009. What follow-up activities would Toyota like to see the European Commission lead as a result of this meeting?
The Stakeholder Forum as such is a very good opportunity to exchange visions and to understand better societal expectations. The role of the Commission as an "independent broker" is pivotal and should be strengthened even further. Actively promoting enhanced collaboration between stakeholders (public sector, NGOs and businesses) could be a necessary follow up activity. CSR should be about actual change, hands-on and not be reduced to a discussion on regulations and principles. The joint activity and mutual learning in partnership will benefit society in a more direct way.
Recently Toyota has released the Aim Zero Emissions Blog and a Why Not website inviting users to engage in dialogue around environmental sustainability and on specific topics material to Toyota. How will Toyota support the feedback and innovative ideas offered by the general public?
Just for clarity, the Aim zero emissions blog is from Toyota Europe, whilst the Why Not website is from our colleagues in Toyota Motor Sales in the US. The first thing to note is that our use of social media is not just to be involved with the "in-thing." We believe it is a new channel for engagement with our stakeholders and customers.
On Aim zero, we plan to engage with every submitter who takes the time to comment. Where it is a simple question, we will reply, where it is a suggestion or comment, we will ensure it is directed to the appropriate person in Toyota. Unfortunately though, I can't promise every entry will be published on the site, as occasionally a submitter will use language that is not appropriate for such a public forum.
Toyota is consistently ranked as the most environmentally friendly car company, mostly due to its leading position as a producer of hybrid vehicles. How will the launch of your first plug-in hybrid at the end of this year help to solidify your current position in the market?
Thank you for your kind words, we are very proud of the work that has been done in the lead up to the limited launch of the Plug-in Hybrid at the end of this year.
For Toyota, hybrid is the common technological thread that will move us on toward the future of sustainable mobility. The thing about hybrid is that it is relevant to any energy source; petrol, diesel, biofuels, synthetic fuels, even hydrogen. Using a hybrid allows you to reduce the waste of energy that happens with non-hybrid powertrains.
One of the reasons that we are able to launch the Plug-in hybrid is because of the long experience we have already with hybrids. There are now more than 1.7 million Toyota and Lexus hybrids on the road globally. The launch of Plug-in hybrid demonstrates our continued commitment to hybrid technology, and a clear statement of our belief that this ‘best of both world's' solution is a very promising option.
About Toyota Motor Europe
Toyota Motor Europe NV/SA (TME) oversees the wholesale sales and marketing of Toyota and Lexus vehicles, parts and accessories, and Toyota's European manufacturing and engineering operations. Toyota directly and indirectly employs around 80,000 people in Europe and has invested over €7 billion since 1990. Toyota's operations in Europe are supported by a network of 31 National Marketing and Sales Companies across 56 countries, a total of around 3,000 sales outlets, and nine manufacturing plants. In 2008, Toyota sold over 1.1 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles in Europe.
About CSR in Toyota
The CSR Division is part of the Corporate Planning Office of Toyota Motor Europe. Its mission is to support the business units in enhancing their economic, social and environmental performance to contribute to sustainable development and to ensure mid- and long term growth of the company.
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