Yamaha World Technician Grand Prix 2014

India’s Meenakshi Sundaram Subramanian wins Yamaha World Technician Grand Prix 2014 Title

Emerges as World’s No. 1 Technician from among 33,000 participants from 21 countries

Chennai, 8 October 2014: Yamaha Motor India Sales Pvt. Ltd (YMIS) today felicitated Mr. Meenakshi Sundaram Subramanian from Alagendran Autos, Madurai who won the No. 1 Technician Title in the Commuter Class at the Yamaha World Technician Grand Prix 2014 (WTGP) that was held between 30 September and 1 October 2014. 20 of the best technicians from 18 countries who had won their national level qualifying contests (NTGP) gathered in Japan for the 6^th Yamaha World Technician Grand Prix during these days. WTGP motivates dealers to achieve higher levels of customer satisfaction that translates into customer delight.

Elaborating on the achievement at Yamaha WTGP 2014, Mr Masaki Asano, Managing Director, Yamaha Motor India Sales Pvt. Ltd, said, “Yamaha Motor Company organizes the WTGP contest in Japan once in two years to select the world’s No. 1 Yamaha service technician. It was earlier dominated by European countries winning the top spot in the championship. We are indeed glad to see India coming forward and winning the title this time. This was the second time Yamaha Motor India was a part of WTGP 2014 and this win by Mr. Meenakshi Sundaram Subramanian makes us very proud indeed.”

This time too, the 6^th Yamaha WTGP continued the tradition of raising the bar higher for YTA technicians, who render one-to-one service for customers every day. The contest includes the element of ‘Time-Commitment Service’ based upon ‘maintenance knowledge, trouble shooting and customer relations’ from the perspective of customer contact points.

Speaking at the event to felicitate the winner, Mr Ravinder Singh, Vice President – Strategy and Planning, Yamaha Motor India Sales Pvt. Ltd said, “This year, Yamaha Motor India participated in WTGP 2014 by sending winners of its India edition of the ‘National Technician Grand Prix’ (NTGP) 2012 and 2013. Contests such as these certainly help in raising the service technician’s consciousness of their importance in the Yamaha business, stimulate the desire for improvement and strengthen the Yamaha Service. At Yamaha, it is our constant endeavour to not only offer our valuable customers an exciting and excellent product line up, but also provide them with excellent value added services and best in class customer after sales experience. With such unique initiatives we go one step ahead to accomplish customer delight instead of mere customer satisfaction and create differentiation for ourselves.”

The Yamaha Technical Academy (YTA) plays a key role in the group’s global education and training program for motorcycle technicians to ensure world-class service that exceeds customer expectations. YTA’s content and standards of education and training programs has been developed specifically for each country. As of 2013, the number of YTA-trained and certified technicians was around 4,000 in India alone. Contests are held in each country under National Technician Grand Prix Title for these certified technicians. The winners then compete in the Yamaha World Technician Grand Prix held at YMC, Japan.

In India, YMIS organised the National Technician Grand Prix in 2012 and 2013, the winners of which were sent to compete in WTGP 2014. In 2012, 850 technicians participated from 375 dealers and in 2013, 726 technicians participated from 375 dealers. The contest had 3 stages of competition for technicians until they could achieve National champion title. The 1st stage (Regional level) has written and practical examination which is conducted by field service team at each dealership. From regional contest, 100 technicians (20 from each region) are picked for the next stage. The 2nd stage (zonal contest) is conducted by zonal training team supported by head office training team at zonal YTA in 4 locations. NTGP final is then conducted by YTA Headquarters. Winners were Sunilkanta Singh Hemam of Pakhamba Motors (2012) and Mr. Meenakshi Sundaram Subramaniam of Alagendran Auto (2013).