In fleeing war, he found a path, perspective, and occupation at Toyota in Canada

“I assume that aspect authorized me to glimpse at incredibly complicated predicaments with a substantially lighter watch, like an possibility,” he claimed through an job interview in April 2023. “I’ve seen this before, I have been in a substantially worse condition than right here, so why do I get worried?”

Right now Tien, president of Toyota Motor Asia Pacific, is between the automaker’s most senior worldwide executives, but he received his get started doing work for the railway. After graduating from the University of Waterloo in Ontario with a bachelor of utilized sciences, in 1990 Tien turned supervisor of intermodal services for the Canadian Pacific Railway, now recognized as CPKC.

His time at CP Rail sparked his curiosity in automotive, as automobiles were being amid the essential products and solutions his intermodal services aided ship. Toyota was a single of his consumers. Nine yrs afterwards, Tien joined Toyota Canada Inc. as director and main data officer.

“Working with them by the years, I started out to like the Toyota tradition,” he instructed Automotive Information Canada from Singapore. “So when the prospect came in 1999, I truly joined the enterprise. So it’s not definitely about automotive it’s Toyota that captivated me.”

Immediately after 11 a long time at Toyota, Tien was appointed general supervisor of Toyota Motor Corp. in Japan, then vice-president of Lexus China and then senior vice-president of income and marketing for Toyota Motor Asia Pacific. From his base in Singapore, he labored his way up to COO of product sales and internet marketing in advance of relocating into various prime-degree positions in Malaysia, India, Indonesia and Thailand, all although based mostly in Singapore.

EYE-OPENING

Starting to be an field insider, Tien stated, opened his eyes to the vast scope of the automotive business enterprise, from mining to manufacturing to money solutions, marketing and advertising and guarantee do the job. He credits his insatiable curiosity for inspiring his career development.

“I like to discover diverse points about the business, so that inspired me to transfer from work to work,” he explained. “I believe that curiosity and want to understand definitely fit into Toyota’s occupation rotation tradition.”

Tien mentioned he by no means had eyes on the corporate suite in Singapore.

“I never ever thought that way. I constantly get just about every option one working day at a time and one opportunity at a time.”

Tien’s purpose in Asia is vastly unique from individuals of his counterparts in Canada or the United States, the place organization presidents offer with polices and sector ailments within just their borders. Tien offers with 17 nations around the world, stretching from India to the Philippines.

He credits his Canadian upbringing for his means to navigate diverse cultures.

“As an immigrant, as an Asian Canadian, I feel relaxed in diverse cultures, in going close to,” Tien claimed. “I believe that that as a Canadian, we were experienced to be delicate to cultural variety. … I have to say thank you to the Canadian government and our people today in Canada that we are nurturing a really tolerant society.”