A Queensland woman has become the first woman in the world to win the Technician Champion award in Toyota’s national skills competition.
Natasha Smith, 22, is this year’s category winner. Smith competed her Toyota network training apprentice ship in February this year after graduating in three and a half years, instead of the usual four.
The Motorama Toyota technician says it was a surreal experience to be crowned winner at not only a national level, but also to be the first woman to win the category on a global level.
“Knowing the quality of skills of the guys I was competing against was very high, wining the category title is an incredible achievement that will stay with me for the rest of my life,” Smith says.
“The quality of the Toyota network training program, together with the great support of my workshop team and the advice of my exceptional trainers, is what gave me the necessary skills to take out the title.”
She beat out five other national finalists in the category.
The competition included a range of challenges including stripping a replacing a CVT, knowledge of the repair manual, and adjusting manual transmission gear ratios in a day of competition held at Toyota headquarters in Port Melbourne.
Toyota’s national skills competition features six categories of various aspects of dealership service and draws entrants from around the country who compete a series of online challenges and assessments first.
Toyota sales and marketing vice president Sean Hanley says the level of skill shown by its dealership employees was exceptional.
“Natasha is an outstanding example of how anyone with a passion for their craft can excel and it’s that level of service across all of our business that we aim to deliver for our guests,” Hanley says.
“I would like to congratulate all of our 2019 national champions, whose skills and knowledge epitomise the high-quality guest service Toyota offers.”
2019 Toyota national skills competition champions:
- Diagnosis Technician – Ashley Humm, Blood Geelong, Victoria
- Technician – Natasha Smith, Motorama Toyota, Brisbane, Queensland
- Service Advisor – Matthew Cleverley, City Toyota, Perth, WA
- Guest Experience Manager – Mary Foster, Jarvis Toyota, Adelaide, SA
- Parts Sales – Mitchell Whan, Grand Toyota Wangara, Perth, WA
- Sales Walkaround – Jason Bentley, Peter Kittle Toyota, Adelaide, SA
