Toyota Financial Services is closing a large field office in Iowa as part of ongoing efforts to consolidate its customer service operations into its dealer services hubs in the South. Two more centers will close to form three Experience Centers, according to a Toyota Financial Services spokesman.
The changes will impact one-third of the captive lender's 3,300 employees nationwide.
Headquartered in Plano, Texas, Toyota's captive arm plans to organize all of its dealership and customer service representatives in Plano; Chandler, Ariz.; and Alpharetta, Ga. The moves will streamline the lender's field offices and present opportunities to invest in new technologies, Toyota Financial Services said in an emailed statement.
"Every team member in good standing who wants a position will continue to have one at one of the new locations," the statement said.
The Cedar Rapids office will shutter at the end of 2022, and about 600 employees will be impacted, an ABC affiliate first reported. Those employees will move to the Plano headquarters, the spokesman said. Toyota Financial Services' two other customer service hubs in Chandler and Owings Mills, Md., also will close. Customer service employees in Chandler will be consolidated into the company's newer dealer services building 3 miles away. The approximately 400 customer service representatives in Owings Mills, which is outside Baltimore, will be relocated to the dealer services center in Alpharetta.
Mazda, Lexus and Toyota dealers have been notified of the changes, he added.
"We are confident our plans to evolve our customer service operations will provide greater value to our customers and dealers, and create stronger career opportunities for our team members," the statement said.
