Toyota appoints Tommi Mäkinen
25 September 2020 | Business
Toyota Motor Corporation is proud to announce the appointment of Tommi Mäkinen as the Motorsport advisor effective from January 2021 with the aim of further advancing the manufacturing of ever-better cars.
Behind the appointment is Mäkinen's impressive contribution to the supercharged re-ignition of Toyota's World Rally operations from 2017. Mäkinen and his team of professionals at Tommi Mäkinen Racing Oy helped Toyota to develop a highly competitive rally car and also built the team.
By 2018, the second year after their return, Toyota earned the manufacturers' world championship title, and in 2019 they won the drivers' and co-drivers' world championship titles.
With this expertise, Toyota is sure Mäkinen is capable of contributing in even wider fields of motorsports, such as the development of motorsports-bred GR vehicles, strategic planning of motorsport activities, and driver talent development. Appointing him as a motorsport advisor of Toyota Motor Corporation, the brand is looking forward to his advice on strategy formulation and organisational operations.
Toyota hopes to benefit from Mäkinen's expertise, learning from his world-leading vehicle development know-how, cultivated at TMR, in order to link this to specific business development. Toyota will also further strengthen its systems, including the acceleration of practical training of human resources. Still, TGR WRT continues its activities both in Finland and Estonia as it has been, using the existing human resources and some facilities originating from TMR.
The goal of the Toyota WRC-project was to re-start the world rallying operation effectively with the flexible organisation which only a small company can achieve.
I am happy to say that this goal has now been reached and it is time for me to move on to new challenges with Toyota. I want to thank Akio Toyoda for trusting me with this project and supporting us all the way to reach the goals we set together. I am looking forward to continuing the work with him, designing the future of Toyota in motorsports. - MotorPress
Behind the appointment is Mäkinen's impressive contribution to the supercharged re-ignition of Toyota's World Rally operations from 2017. Mäkinen and his team of professionals at Tommi Mäkinen Racing Oy helped Toyota to develop a highly competitive rally car and also built the team.
By 2018, the second year after their return, Toyota earned the manufacturers' world championship title, and in 2019 they won the drivers' and co-drivers' world championship titles.
With this expertise, Toyota is sure Mäkinen is capable of contributing in even wider fields of motorsports, such as the development of motorsports-bred GR vehicles, strategic planning of motorsport activities, and driver talent development. Appointing him as a motorsport advisor of Toyota Motor Corporation, the brand is looking forward to his advice on strategy formulation and organisational operations.
Toyota hopes to benefit from Mäkinen's expertise, learning from his world-leading vehicle development know-how, cultivated at TMR, in order to link this to specific business development. Toyota will also further strengthen its systems, including the acceleration of practical training of human resources. Still, TGR WRT continues its activities both in Finland and Estonia as it has been, using the existing human resources and some facilities originating from TMR.
The goal of the Toyota WRC-project was to re-start the world rallying operation effectively with the flexible organisation which only a small company can achieve.
I am happy to say that this goal has now been reached and it is time for me to move on to new challenges with Toyota. I want to thank Akio Toyoda for trusting me with this project and supporting us all the way to reach the goals we set together. I am looking forward to continuing the work with him, designing the future of Toyota in motorsports. - MotorPress
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