T-TEP, a special training module, was launched by the company in 2006, in India. In a span of four years, 16 institutes have been covered under the program. In its first year, the program was implemented in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Hubli. The program was subsequently introduced in Bangalore, Pune, Cochin, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Ghaziabad, Kolkata, Jaipur, Jalandhar, Indore and Mumbai.

 

With this program, Toyota intends to enhance the technical abilities and employability of Industrial Training Institute (ITI) students in the age group of 16 to 18 years. The program will benefit them in building skilful technicians for the Indian automotive repair industry.

 

The current automobile repair industry is characterised by inadequately skilled manpower and lack of professional training for repair and diagnostics, especially for the vehicle models, introduced recently, in the market. The programme wishes to improve this scenario.

 

The workshop's syllabus was developed in collaboration with the Department of Training and Technical Education, Delhi. The syllabus imparts training on basic body and paint repair skills, apart from improving the students' knowledge of repair techniques and facilitating the adoption of latest technology.

 

Currently, technicians for these jobs have limited information and hands on experience, forcing dealers to recruit manpower from local garages. Toyota along with its supplier partners, Asian PPG and 3M, provided all necessary support to the institute like training consumables, visiting faculty, training material, tools, equipments, scholarships etc. To begin with, the course provides training to 40 students every year.

 

Present at the occasion, Hiroshi Nakagawa, MD, Toyota Kirloskar Motors said,“TTEP has been successfully implemented in 419 institutes across 53 countries. We introduced TTEP in India, in 2006. Since then, we have been successful in imparting training, to create skilled manpower. As we reach out to other ITIs, we wish to contribute towards an increase in the availability of skilled manpower in the Indian automobile repair industry.”

 

The curriculum, under the State Council of Vocational Training, introduces students to its advanced technology and service techniques. It also includes, on-the-job training, at Toyota's dealerships. As a part of this program, TKM will also train institute instructors in the latest technology, used in the automobile industry.

 

Sandeep Singh, DMD, Marketing, Toyota Kirloskar Motors, said, “The Indian automobile industry has been growing at a rapid pace, generating need for a pool of skilled manpower. The gap existing between the supply and, ever increasing, demand for skilled manpower, will only widen with this growth. This course is a step towards bridging this gap.”

 

There are also plans to introduce this program to technical institutes in the coming years and reach out to over 500 students per year.