The daughter also rises
It’s time to direct the spotlight to Mary Evangeline Tan, daughter of industry veteran Jose “Doyong” B. Tan Jr, whom Inquirer Motoring featured last March 2024 when Toyota Subic won the prestigious President’s Award for Excellence (Small Business Division) for its exemplary performance in 2023.
Mary has been Toyota Subic president since July 2024, and executive vice president of Toyota Tarlac and Toyota San Fernando in Pampanga since April 2018.
In 2023, Doyong said that the best enterprises were often formed in the worst of times. He recalled that 1997 was possibly the worst time to put up an auto business, but he took that risk and proceeded with the construction of his first Toyota dealership in Cabanatuan City in Nueva Ecija. The rest has become history.
Now with Mary at the leadership positions of three strategic (and now award-winning) Toyota dealerships under Doyong’s JBT Group of Companies—one can say that the best could certainly get even better.
US-based risk-taker
Mary was already established in the United States before she decided to take on her dad’s business. No surprise here, as Mary considers herself as headstrong and independent-minded as her risk-taking dad. The apple, it seems, hasn’t fallen far from the tree.
Mary has been Toyota Subic president since July 2024, and EVP of Toyota Tarlac and Toyota San Fernando in Pampanga since April 2018.
Her involvement in the family business actually began in 2014, when she started working in Toyota San Fernando. She learned the ropes, one day at a time, before being assigned to Toyota Tarlac when it opened in 2016, and then to Toyota Subic in 2018.
7 years abroad
“Since the dealers were assigned to me gradually, having those experiences from the earlier dealers helped prepare me in handling multiple dealerships. Furthermore, I would say that immersing myself with our different businesses (when I was growing up) was a good stepping stone for me. I spent a few summers training at our Shell gas stations before, and was also a management trainee at our previous financing company. Also, living abroad for 7 years helped me be independent and adapt to different kinds of people and work environments,” Mary explained.
“The initial plan, after studying and staying there for a while, was (for me) to really go back to help. However, having lived out of the country for a long time, I (became) a bit hesitant to come home and adjust back to life in the Philippines, especially since my husband was born and raised in the States. But during that time, from two dealerships, we were going to open two more. So my dad talked to us (me and my sister) to just come home with our families and help out with the family business,” she narrated.
“We are four girls in the family. My other sister also handles our two other dealerships, and my husband handles two more,” Mary revealed.
Toyota through and through
The JBT Group of Companies now operates seven dealerships—all loyal to just one brand: Toyota.
“Focusing on one brand gives you an advantage on how to market your brand’s products and services properly. There is also no conflict of interest that can occur, unlike if you have multi-branded dealerships,” said Mary.
But dealing with only one brand doesn’t lessen Mary’s responsibilities as an automotive businessperson. “After graduation, I worked at our financing company. That helped me be prepared, especially on the finance side of the business. After I finished management training, I studied abroad. My experiences living alone abroad helped me be more responsible, mature and independent.”
Harvard’s Alternative Investments
Mary said she went into Harvard in 2022 to join its Alternative Investments course. “That course discusses different kinds of investments and opportunities and the risks that come with each one.
“Graduating from Business Management and having various experiences in our other businesses gave me basic knowledge that I need for my roles. But it was when I started really immersing at Toyota and shadowing my dad that I learned the dealer operations. I also had the privilege and opportunity to sit and train in different departments and learn from my people doing their day-to-day jobs. I would say experience is the best teacher,” Mary said.
Age and gender aren’t issues in the business of dealerships, she asserted.
“It’s about the hard work you put into it. There already is a growing number of women executives in the Toyota network now. There’s also succession planning required within the Toyota dealer network that trains the next generation like myself,” she described.
Met at a car show
“My free time is spent mostly with my family. We love to travel with the kids when we can. I also love cars. My husband and I actually met at a car show, and we like to modify and improve our car’s performance. And we love to drive. I also bake and cook from time to time,” she said.
Now that all of Mary’s three dealerships bagged honors in the President’s Award of Excellence (Toyota Tarlac City is the champion in the Small Business Division; Toyota San Fernando Pampanga is first runner up in the Large Business Division; Toyota Subic Inc. is first runner up in the Small Business Division), apart from Toyota Tarlac’s very own Vladimir John Pangilinan Yutuc going home with the Toyota Outstanding Performers in Sales and Service, Finest Marketing Professional of the Year Award, is there added pressure to achieve more next year?
Mary replied that there’s always pressure when a dealership wins “because there are more expectations from you.”“But I always tell my team that winning is just a bonus for us. As long as we do our best, make our customers happy and keep improving our operations, that’s all that matters. We will feel successful and rewarded whether we win the DOYA (Dealer of the Year award) or not.”
Not a hard sell
“The Toyota brand is not a hard brand to sell at all. It’s probably one of the most recognized car brands in the world. Having been recently awarded the 23rd triple crown in the Philippines, it’s known to everyone that the brand is known for its quality, durability, and reliability or QDR,” she said.
She sends out this message to her dealerships’ loyal customers: “I would like to thank you for your continuous patronage of our brand. You give Toyota motivation to continuously manufacture ever better cars.” And the new generation of motorists, she has this to impart: “You are assured that every Toyota vehicle is built with ‘QDR’: Quality, durability, and reliability. Toyota also values your safety and the safety of your family. That is the reason why Toyota is continuously the market leader in making ever better cars for all.”
Dad couldn’t have put it better.
