As the national Government Fleet manager of Toyota Australia, Aman Gupta knows about the rapidly changing automative landscape better than most. He talks about how he got where he is, the biggest challenges he faces and what motivates him to get up in the morning.

Q: What was the career path that led you here?

AG: I have a background in accounting and finance, but I started my career with Toyota in Sydney in 2011 when I joined the business in sales and marketing. When manufacturing ceased in Altona and Toyota consolidated all operations in Melbourne I had the opportunity to move down to Melbourne and join the National Fleet team. After 18 months I was promoted to National Government and Rental Fleet Sales manager, the position I currently hold.

Q: What does your job involve?

AG: We have regional managers across Australia who work closely with Local, State and Federal Government offices, and my job is to support them with long term strategy, chain supply, pricing, future discounting strategy and future vehicle outlook. I’m the central point to provide Toyota with feedback on what fleet customers are looking for.

Q: What’s the best part of your job?

AG: The best part about working for Toyota is the amount of care and respect we have for our people and customers. There’s a culture of continuously improving and trying to do things better. That’s what motivates me to go to work every day because I know I’m being taken care of, my team is being taken care of and so are my customers. I know I can be confident to go out and talk to customers and tell them about what we’re doing and how we can help them because I’m confident that what I give them is going to be good for them, is going to help them, and is going to solve a lot of their issues.

Q: What are your biggest challenges?

AG: The biggest challenge at the moment is the changing landscape and just how quickly change is happening. New technology is coming in, there’s a push for electric and low emissions vehicles, there’s a push for better safety, there’s a drive to improve value, telematics, more information more data. How do you bring all that together to give the customer the best solution? We’re continuously working towards it and we’re making sure that we can deliver.

Q: We understand that being a good corporate citizen is important to Toyota, and the company is doing its bit during COVID-19?

AG: Our Product Planning and Design division has started producing face shields for frontline workers and those shields are now being produced on site in Port Melbourne. We’ve also got a massive kitchen in our head office and that kitchen isn’t currently being utilised by our employees because everyone is working from home.  So now we’re using that kitchen and catering staff to prepare 150 meals a day for hospital staff. Continuing to make a contribution to the community is very important for Toyota, especially during this challenging time.

Read more about Toyota’s support here.

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