With this principle in mind, a total of 45 awards were presented to retailers from 33 markets, in recognition of their excellent performance in Customer Recommendation results both in Sales and After Sales. This year, exceptional recognition was given to the retailers who have won eight and nine times in the past eleven years.

‘Ichiban’ is the Japanese word borrowed from ‘Okyakusama Ichiban’ which means ‘Customer First’, with ‘Ichiban’ meaning ‘first’ or ‘number one’. It is a suitable term to describe Lambe Brothers, a Family run dealership who pride themselves on after sales service and have numerous awards to prove it.

The customer minded philosophy was recognised by Dr. Johan van Zyl, President and CEO of Toyota Motor Europe, during his speech at the awards ceremony, where he told the assembled high performing retailers: “You have demonstrated how putting the customer first drives business success”. He went on to add “Toyota wants to be number one in customer recommendation in every market in Europe. The most important goal is to be number one in the hearts and minds of our customers everywhere.”

Steve Tormey, Chief Executive of Toyota Ireland added,

“We are extremely proud of the work of Lambe Brothers Car Sales in Offaly. Customer service is of an exceptional standard at their dealership and we are delighted that this has been recognised by Toyota Motor Europe”.