56 staff from 8 official dealers nationwide compete

EV-focused customer service and technical skills put to the test

Champions from all seven categories of the 2026 Lexus Skill Contest hold up their trophies for a commemorative photo. [Lexus Korea]
Champions from all seven categories of the 2026 Lexus Skill Contest hold up their trophies for a commemorative photo. [Lexus Korea]

Lexus Korea held the 2026 Lexus Skill Contest on Saturday at the Toyota Training Academy in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, bringing together service and sales professionals from authorized Lexus dealers across the country to compete for top honors, the company announced Monday.

Now in its 16th edition, the competition is designed to sharpen dealer staff expertise and share service know-how. Since its inaugural event in 2002, the contest has alternated between the Lexus and Toyota brands. The company described it as a talent development program aimed at going beyond customer satisfaction to deliver genuine customer delight.

This year's theme was "Best EV Competency for Lexus Multi-Pathway Future." The contest centered on deepening specialist knowledge and technical skills around battery electric vehicles in line with Lexus's Multi-Pathway electrification strategy, with an emphasis on delivering service tailored to each customer's lifestyle and vehicle usage environment.

A total of 56 employees from eight authorized dealers nationwide qualified through preliminary rounds and competed across seven categories: service advisor, sales consultant, customer support, parts, general maintenance, sheet metal and paint.

Competition tasks were built around real-world customer scenarios involving the all-new ES electric vehicle, Lexus's next-generation electrified model. The service advisor category assessed contestants' ability to handle customers visiting a service center for EV maintenance, while the sales consultant category evaluated their skill in recommending vehicles based on EV characteristics and individual customer needs. The customer support and parts categories tested handling of EV-related customer complaints and ordered-parts processing, respectively, and the general maintenance category had contestants diagnose and resolve faults in EV systems. The sheet metal category focused on quarter-panel welding, while the paint category assessed color matching and partial repainting work.

The judges named seven category champions: Jeon Hyeon-su of Lexus Busan in the service advisor category, Won Dong-yeop of Lexus Bundang in the sales consultant category, Do Ung of Lexus Gangnam in the customer support category, Nam Yong-jae of Lexus Bundang in the parts category, Choi Hong-seok of Lexus Yongsan in the general maintenance category, Yoo Sang-hyeok of Lexus Daegu in the sheet metal category and Kim Hyeong-tae of Lexus Daejeon in the paint category. Winners received a trophy, a plaque and a travel incentive.

The contest also showcased new service workflows incorporating digital transformation and AI technologies. Some categories integrated digital work management systems and AI-based training and consultation support tools. Large monitors were set up at the venue so spectators could follow the use of these technologies and observe the competition in real time.

The event was attended by dealer executives and staff, participants' families and representatives from Toyota Motor. Students and faculty from schools participating in the Toyota Technical Experience Program, or T-TEP — an industry-academia partnership for developing future automotive talent — were also invited to observe the technical skills of Lexus service professionals firsthand. T-TEP is a corporate social responsibility initiative run by Toyota Korea that began with Seoyeong University in 2020 and has since expanded through agreements with automotive-related universities nationwide. The program offers education in Toyota and Lexus electrification technology, on-site internship opportunities and career counseling.

"As electrification technology advances and customers have more choices, the expertise of frontline staff who earn customer trust and satisfaction becomes ever more important," said Konyama Manabu, president of Lexus Korea. "We will continue to support authorized dealer staff nationwide in developing their capabilities through ongoing education and digital technology-driven improvements to the way they work, and we will strive to deliver the differentiated Lexus service experience to every single customer."

Meanwhile, Lexus Korea continues to work with its authorized dealers nationwide on customer lifecycle management activities covering everything from vehicle purchase to ownership and upkeep, as well as its "Best in Town" initiative, which aims to make each dealer a beloved presence in its local community. According to the company, Lexus ranked second in both sales service satisfaction and after-sales service satisfaction in the combined domestic and import vehicle evaluation of Consumer Insight's 2026 Annual Automotive Survey.


eyre@heraldcorp.com