Toyota Motorsport: Life after Formula 1

Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG) is celebrating a successful first year as an engineering services supplier, having met financial targets and lifted morale following the end of its F1 participation.

TMG has consistently added new clients throughout the year, from motorsport-related R&D services to road car sports conversions and electric car innovation.

“This has been a break-through year for us,” says Jens Marquardt, General Manager Business Development. “We faced many challenges in November 2009 when our F1 participation ended but we met them with courage and optimism. Now our hard work is delivering results, so we can look back with satisfaction on the last 12 months.

“However, while we are on course to meet our year-one goals, we still have challenging targets ahead of us in year two so there is no respite in our efforts. We must continue to grow our third-party business by demonstrating the high quality and wide range of our services.”

Targets for 2011 include expanding TMG’s range of services and delivering yet more large, long-term projects both for external clients and the Toyota family.

A WORLD OF OPPORTUNITIES - ALL UNDER ONE ROOF

With expertise and equipment rarely found on the open market, TMG possesses a unique portfolio, giving it a competitive edge beyond the motorsport sector.

“The legacy from our Formula 1 participation is a facility equipped with all the automotive development tools imaginable and a highly-skilled group of engineers to make the most of them,” says Pascal Vasselon, General Manager Chassis Engineering. “It‟s incredible to see the reaction of experienced engineers when they first visit our facilities and understand the processes we have in place.

“I think there is a belief that F1 engineering is a very narrow specialisation. But our customers are hugely impressed to learn about the breadth of our engineering expertise and the variety of equipment available. TMG offers much more than motorsport engineering; that is obvious to any visitor.”

Confidentiality obligations prevent the naming of most TMG customers, however a few dozen companies from across the automotive and engineering spectrum have benefited from the facilities in TMG‟s first year as an engineering service supplier.

FROM DESPAIR TO WHERE?

One year ago this month, staff at TMG were told the shattering news that the company’s Formula 1 project was to end immediately.

There was no softening the blow; only 150 of the approximately 650 staff would remain and motorsport activities would cease for the time being.

For a company established with the sole purpose of competing in international motorsport, the future seemed uncertain.

NEW ERA, NEW JOBS

The man charged with drawing a road map for a brighter future was Jens Marquardt, who overnight saw his job change from F1 team manager to General Manager Business Development.

Twelve months later he can afford a contemplative smile as he says: “It was not an easy time for anyone at TMG. The F1 pull-out was a huge blow to all of us but I had no time to dwell on the situation; we had a business to establish and not much time to in which to do it.”

A CHANGE OF ETHOS

Today TMG stands on its own two feet as an independent supplier of specialist engineering services, to customers from a wide range of industries, including motorsport.

“The whole ethos of our company has changed,” adds Marquardt. “During our F1 times, it was easier for a visitor to get into Area 51 than to some areas inside TMG!

“Since November 2009, when our business model was revised, that has all changed and now we are keen to show our facilities because the company’s success depends on bringing in third-party customers.”

But that is just part of the philosophical shift which has taken place at TMG in the past year.

“Competing in top-level motorsport encourages everyone involved to be extremely protective of technology, so confidentiality was a way of life here,” adds Marquardt.
“However, inside TMG there was only one project - F1. Now there are dozens of projects for many third-party customers and we must deliver to them the same confidentiality we expected for ourselves in previous times.”

LEARNING TOGETHER

“That’s just one small aspect of the change that has taken place here. Other elements - producing cost offers, allocating man hours to individual projects, managing multiple different customers - were not common to TMG in the past.”

So what is the result? Strolling through the 30,000m² facility and with the roar of a busy wind tunnel fading into the distance, Marquardt pauses to watch TMG’s latest prototype, an ultra-sporty iQ race car, zip through the car park before delivering his answer.

STAYING COMMITTED

“What has impressed me most this year has been the professionalism of everyone here. It was a shock to the system to change our business model so dramatically but the people here have put their heart and soul into making this company successful.”

Naturally for a company to whom confidentiality is an essential trait, TMG is cagy when it comes to the exact numbers behind its first year of service supply. Income runs into the multi-million euro bracket and the company is on course to meet its 2010 targets.

STILL AIMING HIGH

Achieving that goal is just one step on a longer journey, as Marquardt explains: “I’m content with what we have achieved since November 2009 but I don’t want to settle for that.

“TMG still has a way to go before we reach our ultimate goals so we are constantly striving for more and bigger projects; we love a challenge!”

A growing client list has required TMG to once again recruit new staff, with original estimates for a workforce of 150 now raised to around 180.

Many new projects have come from outside the motorsport world, and Marquardt is eager to highlight TMG’s credentials to the wider engineering world. “Take a look at the electric vehicles we have developed here, the production car parts coming out of our big CNC department or some of the unusual items which have been in our wind tunnel,” he says. “Toyota Motorsport delivers more than motorsport; we are an all-round engineering services supplier.”

ALIVE AND KICKING

To some in the outside world, TMG was simply "what remains of the Toyota F1 team". Those "remains" are stirring, enlivened by new challenges and fresh attitudes.
The final word goes to the man tasked with fuelling that progress: “A year ago we witnessed the end of an era, now we can look back and see those same events as the beginning of a new, exciting chapter.”