An Irish retailer was awarded with the top honour at Toyota's 'Ichiban' European Customer Satisfaction Award during a recent ceremony in Cannes, France.

Cummins Car Centre, Ennis, Co Clare was recognised for their exceptional performance in customer satisfaction in both Sales and After Sales areas. The award was presented to the winner Mr Jason Cummins Dealer Principle of Cummins Car Centre by Mr David Shannon, Managing Director, Toyota Ireland.

Over 2,300 European retailers were evaluated on their results during a continuous performance monitoring, which is included in the company's standards. Based on a very demanding set of selection criteria, only 41 Retailers achieved this distinct recognition by Toyota in Europe.

Speaking at the presentation to Jason Cummins and the staff at Cummins Car Centre Mr. Shannon said: 'The Ichiban Award formally recognises outstanding blocks in delivering our "customer first" philosophy. Each and every member of Toyota ensures to always deliver their best, with our Retailers especially committed to providing the best overall customer experience. At Toyota Ireland our intention and that of our Retailer Network is to always put customer satisfaction at the center of everything we do.

'Ichiban' is a Japanese word borrowed from 'Okyajusama Ichiban' which means 'Customer First', with 'Ichiban' meaning 'first' or 'number one'. Since the start of TME's annual Ichiban Awards in 2006, Customer Satisfaction performance of the Toyota retailers has improved by some 21% points in Sales and 14% points in After Sales.