Toyota opens tech-training center

The U.S. division of global automaker Toyota is opening a $3.6-million technical training center in Blue Ash, OH, to keep dealer technicians up to speed on car and light truck technology changes.

The 17,300 sq-ft center boasts a lecture hall, three classrooms and 12 service bays that will be staffed by a manager, three service training instructors and six field technical specialists to handle the training needs of some 1,200 Toyota and Lexus service technicians annually.

Classes are aimed at progressing a technician in the dealership’s service department to achieve a classification of either Expert, Certified or Master technician, noted George Christoff, vp& gm of Toyota’s Cincinnati region.

He added that several “green” features were used in the design and construction of the new facility, including recycling of asphalt and other materials from the old facility and the use of energy-reducing materials and fixtures.