2018 U.S.-Booked Air Volume: $58 million
Primary U.S. Air Suppliers: Delta, American, United
Primary U.S. Hotel Suppliers: Marriott, Hilton, Intercontinental
Primary U.S. Car Rental Suppliers: National, Hertz
Primary U.S. Online Booking Tool: GetThere
Primary U.S. Payment Supplier: American Express
Card Program: central bill/central pay
Primary U.S. Expense Supplier: Chrome River
Primary U.S. Travel Risk Management Supplier: International SOS
Consolidated U.S. TMC: BCD
Even though Toyota Motor North America added an affiliate company to its managed travel program, its U.S.-booked air spend dropped 17 percent in 2018. The company expects that figure to maintain in 2019. Contributing to the contraction is the company's introduction last year of hotel rate caps. It also began mandating booking channels, and the percentage of U.S.-booked air tickets that go through approved tools bumped up from 71 percent in 2017 to 75 percent in 2018; 77 percent of those required no agent assistance.
Also in 2018, the Toyota Motor North America travel team supported the expense team as it automated air expense reconciliation. Airfare continues to be centrally billed, but the responsibility for reconciliation has moved from accounting to the traveler. Previously, travelers could change, at the point of sale, the business travel account coding for any given project, leaving accounting with irreconcilable information. Now, the system sends a centrally billed air ticket to the traveler's “wallet” in the expense tool, and the traveler must allocate it appropriately; the system does not allow invalid accounting combinations.
Toyota Motor North America also added Canadian and Mexican point-of-sale transactions to its supplier agreements and put Canada on SAP Concur Travel; the country already was on Concur Expense, and Mexico was on both the travel and expense tools. Toyota sets policy by country. Of the 2018 U.S.-booked air spend, 47 percent was for domestic travel, as it was in 2017.
Also last year, Toyota Motor North America launched a traveler communications program, enabling, for the first time, communication beyond posting on the online booking tool interface. Toyota Motor North America presents program updates and hot topics to a live audience and distributes videos of those sessions to the traveler list. The communications effort also sends out supplier promotions and includes the occasional email if timing is critical. The initiative has prompted interaction and conversation with travelers.
The company had pledged in 2017 to invest $10 billion by 2021 in the U.S., focusing on electric vehicles. This spring, it upped the ante to $13 billion, planning 586 new jobs at U.S. plants. The company reported $260.8 billion of revenue in 2018.