Since joining TMS in 1990, Templin has held a number of positions of increasing responsibility.
Toyota Motor North America made changes to its management affecting both U.S. and Japanese executives running its North and South American affiliate companies. In a breakthrough move, an American is joining senior management in Japan for the first time. Toyota said it is an attempt to provide greater autonomy and more local control to regional executives and managers. The moves also are claimed to advance Toyota’s efforts to integrate top “regional talent,’ sometimes known irreverently in Japan as Gaijin or round-eyes, into its global leadership team.
The lack of local control by figurehead U.S. executives led to Toyota’s unintended acceleration fiasco when Japanese executives in Toyota City refused to acknowledge the problem and stonewalled a recall millions of vehicles, resulting in multiple deaths, needless injuries and ultimately the largest fines in history imposed by NHTSA, the regulatory agency responsible for U.S. safety matters.
The most significant move is promoting Mark S. Templin, from group vice president and general manager – Lexus Division in the U.S. to managing officer and executive vice president of Lexus International, where he will lead Lexus global operations from Toyota City, Japan. Templin is the first non-Japanese executive to oversee a Toyota division within the company’s global headquarters in Japan. In this new role, Templin reports to Kiyotaka Ise, senior managing officer and president of Lexus International.
Other changes announced include:
James (Jim) Lentz, currently president and CEO of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S. (TMS), senior vice president of Toyota Motor North America (TMA) and managing officer of Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC), is named senior managing officer of TMC, chief executive officer North America Region, and president and chief operating officer of TMA. In this new role, Lentz will oversee all of Toyota’s North America affiliates, including TMS, TMA and Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing, North America, Inc. (TEMA), which includes responsibilities for Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc. (TMMC), and will have new oversight for Toyota Canada, Incorporated (TCI). Lentz will also become chair of the North American Executive Committee, which will consist of cross-affiliate leaders. He will report to Satoshi Ozawa and Mitsuhisa Kato, executive vice presidents and members of the Board, TMC.
Kazuo Ohara, managing officer, TMC and executive vice president, Lexus International, will become chief executive officer and president of TMS, with responsibility for Toyota’s North America sales, service and marketing operations, reporting to Lentz.
Osamu (“Simon”) Nagata, deputy chief officer, External Affairs group, and managing officer, TMC, is named chief executive officer and president of TEMA, where he will lead Toyota’s North American manufacturing and engineering operations, also reporting to Lentz.
Steve St. Angelo, having served Toyota North America as executive vice president, TEMA, and senior vice president of TMA, is named chief executive officer, Latin America and Caribbean Region. He remains a managing officer of TMC. Based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, St. Angelo will be chair of Toyota do Brazil and will oversee all of Toyota’s Latin America and Caribbean affiliates. He will report to Mitsuhisa Kato and Yasumori Ihara, executive vice presidents and members of the board, TMC.
Réal (“Ray”) Tanguay, chair, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc. (TMMC), North American chief quality officer and senior managing officer of TMC, will be named advisor, TMC and chair, TCI. He remains chair of TMMC and president of Canadian Autoparts Toyota, Inc. (CAPTIN), which are overseen by TEMA. Given Tanguay’s enhanced focus on expanding the Canadian market and overall coordination of Canadian operations, the role of chief quality officer will be re-assigned at a later date.
Robert (Bob) S. Carter, senior vice president – automotive operations, TMS, will have added responsibility for the Lexus Division, aligning sales, service, marketing, customer initiatives, vehicle distribution and parts operations for Toyota, Lexus and Scion under one executive. He will report to Ohara.
Jeffrey (Jeff) Bracken, vice president, sales, Toyota Division, is named group vice president and general manager – Lexus Division, TMS, reporting to Carter. Bracken will be responsible for all sales, marketing, customer service and dealer operations for Lexus in the U.S.
Yoshimi (Yoshi) Inaba, chair of TMS, is named executive chair of TMS. He remains executive advisor to TMC.
Shigeki Terashi, managing officer, TMC, president and COO, TMA and president and CEO, TEMA, is named senior managing officer, TMC, where he will be chief officer, Corporate Planning Division and chief officer, Product and Business Planning Division.
Kazuhiro Miyauchi, managing officer, TMC, senior vice president, TMA, and executive vice president – Purchasing and Supplier Engineering Development, TEMA, will become chief officer, Production Control Group, TMC.
Hiroyuki Fukui, senior vice president and chief coordinating officer, TMS, is named managing officer, TMC, and named chair of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indonesia (TMMIN).
Mark Hogan, president of Dewey Investments LLC, is appointed as one of three new outside board members of TMC. Hogan, a former General Motors senior executive and the past president of mega auto suppler Magna, is the first American to be named as an outside board member of the company.
“These changes will help us to achieve sustainable growth and realize our Global Vision,” said Akio Toyoda, President of Toyota Motor Corporation.
