BREAKING NEWS:Toyota Announces New Lexus Leadership after GM Jim Farley Jumps to Ford
10-16-07, 06:55 AM
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Another excellent Detroit News article
It seems that The Detroit News' Christine Tierney is following this story quite closely. After her recent story (which I posted earlier in this thread), here's a follow-up that is also noteworthy:
Amid concerns in Calif., Toyota's honorary chair visits U.S.
Honorary Chairman
Shoichiro Toyoda's
family founded
Toyota.
Shoichiro Toyoda's visit to the United States appears well timed, coming after a string of troubling headlines about the Japanese automaker's U.S. operations.
The honorary chairman of Toyota Motor Corp. and a member of the company's founding family, Toyoda is scheduled to receive one of the auto industry's highest awards tonight in Dearborn, an induction into the Automotive Hall of Fame.
Toyoda, 82, will travel next to southern California, where he will have an opportunity to speak with some of Toyota's U.S.-based managers and gauge the mood at the Japanese automaker's American operations.
Concerns about strains at Toyota's U.S. sales headquarters in Torrance, Calif., surfaced last week after one of automaker's most promising U.S. executives resigned, in the second high-level defection by a high-ranking American in two months.
Jim Farley, general manager of Lexus, left to take a big job as the top marketing executive at Ford Motor Co. His resignation followed the departure in September of Jim Press, president of Toyota Motor North America, after 37 years with the company.
Press had been a protégé of Toyoda, who is said to have nudged the company to appoint him to the board in June.
In Toyoda's previous roles as president and chairman of Toyota during the 1980s and 1990s, he led the company's overseas expansion and heightened the emphasis on production quality. Although his current title is ceremonial, Toyoda still wields power and some insiders say he is the most important person in the company.
Later this week, he is scheduled to meet some of the company's U.S.-based managers in Torrance at a dinner at the home of Yuki Funo, the head of Toyota's North American sales operations.
People at Toyota say Press left to take a hands-on marketing job at Chrysler LLC because he wasn't suited to the kind of advisory role that Toyota was reserving for him.
But Farley's departure sparked talk in the industry of tensions between Japanese and U.S. executives in California and between the U.S. and Japanese operations.
A company spokesman disputed the perception that the recent departures, including Lexus marketing chief Deborah Wahl Meyer's jump to Chrysler, signal a trend. "Over the long term, we're not prone to losing executives," said Xavier Dominicis.
Some tensions between Japanese headquarters and local operations are inevitable, say industry experts. "There's always a natural amount of sniping," said auto analyst Maryann Keller of Maryann Keller and Associates in Stamford, Conn.
She says the strains may be increasing now that Toyota is competing against U.S. automakers determined to design and offer better products.
"Life was very easy for the Japanese for the past 30 years, but life's about to get harder for them now that GM, Ford and Chrysler are getting better," Keller said.
Small miscalculations in pricing or design at Toyota are going to be more costly and may generate more finger-pointing.
George Peterson, president of Tustin, Calif.-based AutoPacific, said Toyota staffs its U.S. operations with many Japanese managers to help the top bosses in Japan grasp the local situation.
"There's a pretty big Japanese shadow staff who help with communications back and forth between California and Japan," Peterson said.
But some of the tensions are hard to resolve. U.S. executives tend to get paid more than their Japanese counterparts because of the different wage scales in the two countries. On the other hand, Americans feel shut out of top jobs at Toyota and other foreign automakers.
The strains are also due to the huge importance of the U.S. operations to Toyota's bottom line.
Toyota is now the No. 2 seller of cars and trucks in the United States after General Motors Corp. and ahead of Ford and Chrysler. Analysts say the U.S. market accounts for more than half of Toyota's profit, which totaled $14 billion in the last fiscal year ended March 31.
Toyota's increasing presence in the U.S. market is accompanied by a greater scrutiny of its performance. The Japanese automaker is now embroiled in a public relations flap after being accused of hypocrisy by environmental groups. Toyota is the leader in sales of fuel-efficient hybrids but, along with Detroit's automakers, it is lobbying in Washington for one of the milder versions of U.S. mileage legislation before Congress. That position has angered environmentalists, who had held Toyota up as an industry standard.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll...710160354/1148
Amid concerns in Calif., Toyota's honorary chair visits U.S.
Honorary Chairman
Shoichiro Toyoda's
family founded
Toyota.
Shoichiro Toyoda's visit to the United States appears well timed, coming after a string of troubling headlines about the Japanese automaker's U.S. operations.
The honorary chairman of Toyota Motor Corp. and a member of the company's founding family, Toyoda is scheduled to receive one of the auto industry's highest awards tonight in Dearborn, an induction into the Automotive Hall of Fame.
Toyoda, 82, will travel next to southern California, where he will have an opportunity to speak with some of Toyota's U.S.-based managers and gauge the mood at the Japanese automaker's American operations.
Concerns about strains at Toyota's U.S. sales headquarters in Torrance, Calif., surfaced last week after one of automaker's most promising U.S. executives resigned, in the second high-level defection by a high-ranking American in two months.
Jim Farley, general manager of Lexus, left to take a big job as the top marketing executive at Ford Motor Co. His resignation followed the departure in September of Jim Press, president of Toyota Motor North America, after 37 years with the company.
Press had been a protégé of Toyoda, who is said to have nudged the company to appoint him to the board in June.
In Toyoda's previous roles as president and chairman of Toyota during the 1980s and 1990s, he led the company's overseas expansion and heightened the emphasis on production quality. Although his current title is ceremonial, Toyoda still wields power and some insiders say he is the most important person in the company.
Later this week, he is scheduled to meet some of the company's U.S.-based managers in Torrance at a dinner at the home of Yuki Funo, the head of Toyota's North American sales operations.
People at Toyota say Press left to take a hands-on marketing job at Chrysler LLC because he wasn't suited to the kind of advisory role that Toyota was reserving for him.
But Farley's departure sparked talk in the industry of tensions between Japanese and U.S. executives in California and between the U.S. and Japanese operations.
A company spokesman disputed the perception that the recent departures, including Lexus marketing chief Deborah Wahl Meyer's jump to Chrysler, signal a trend. "Over the long term, we're not prone to losing executives," said Xavier Dominicis.
Some tensions between Japanese headquarters and local operations are inevitable, say industry experts. "There's always a natural amount of sniping," said auto analyst Maryann Keller of Maryann Keller and Associates in Stamford, Conn.
She says the strains may be increasing now that Toyota is competing against U.S. automakers determined to design and offer better products.
"Life was very easy for the Japanese for the past 30 years, but life's about to get harder for them now that GM, Ford and Chrysler are getting better," Keller said.
Small miscalculations in pricing or design at Toyota are going to be more costly and may generate more finger-pointing.
George Peterson, president of Tustin, Calif.-based AutoPacific, said Toyota staffs its U.S. operations with many Japanese managers to help the top bosses in Japan grasp the local situation.
"There's a pretty big Japanese shadow staff who help with communications back and forth between California and Japan," Peterson said.
But some of the tensions are hard to resolve. U.S. executives tend to get paid more than their Japanese counterparts because of the different wage scales in the two countries. On the other hand, Americans feel shut out of top jobs at Toyota and other foreign automakers.
The strains are also due to the huge importance of the U.S. operations to Toyota's bottom line.
Toyota is now the No. 2 seller of cars and trucks in the United States after General Motors Corp. and ahead of Ford and Chrysler. Analysts say the U.S. market accounts for more than half of Toyota's profit, which totaled $14 billion in the last fiscal year ended March 31.
Toyota's increasing presence in the U.S. market is accompanied by a greater scrutiny of its performance. The Japanese automaker is now embroiled in a public relations flap after being accused of hypocrisy by environmental groups. Toyota is the leader in sales of fuel-efficient hybrids but, along with Detroit's automakers, it is lobbying in Washington for one of the milder versions of U.S. mileage legislation before Congress. That position has angered environmentalists, who had held Toyota up as an industry standard.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll...710160354/1148
10-16-07, 11:23 AM
#47
Super Moderator
David Hendricks: The Toyota way becoming Detroit's way
Web Posted: 10/12/2007 09:21 PM CDT
San Antonio Express-News
If the U.S.-based auto industry mounts a comeback, it is becoming clear how it will do so with Toyota Motor Corp. management talent.
U.S. automakers are twisting the old saying that if you can't beat them, join them. They are joining Toyota by taking its executives.
On Thursday, Ford Motor Co. hired Toyota's Lexus brand head Jim Farley as a group vice president. Farley will oversee Ford's marketing, advertising and communications worldwide. Farley had made Toyota's Scion a popular brand.
This follows the stunning news last month that Jim Press, Toyota's top U.S. executive, was wrested away by the newly privatized Chrysler LLC as a co-president. Press, who had been the first American on the Toyota board, already helped guide Chrysler through union contract negotiations this week with only a six-hour strike.
In August, Chrysler also landed Deborah Wahl Meyer, a former Lexus marketer.
Will General Motors Corp. raid Toyota management, too? It wouldn't be a surprise.
No one is worried about Toyota's future, however, despite the loss of executives. Even though Toyota does not pay its executives outlandish salaries like other corporations, the Japanese carmaker is known for its depth of corporate management talent. Toyota just reloads when it loses a manager.
The Toyota defections signal something else, too. The three executives believe that Detroit's Big Three are not dead. The U.S.-based auto companies can rebound from slumping sales and market share with the know-how that Toyota has developed.
Toyota does not have to worry that a rebound of the U.S. auto industry would dim its success. The Japanese automaker simply wants to avoid the backlash that would result if the Big Three continue to weaken. Toyota also recognizes the value of having balanced competition in the North American market.
Toyota's influence, of course, extends beyond the auto industry. Thanks to San Antonio's Toyota plant, area manufacturing is benefiting from Toyota's cost-saving ways.
The University of Texas at San Antonio's Institute for Economic Development, for example, has conducted classes on "lean manufacturing" for several years. The philosophy incorporates many of Toyota's tenets, and the classes have enjoyed full enrollment.
One of the main lessons area manufacturers have learned is how to intelligently design production lines that minimize inventory. Inventory is a dirty word at Toyota because stored materials do not add value or bring income.
The main way former Toyota executives likely will help Chrysler and Ford, though, is to strengthen the relationship between products and the dealerships. Toyota has been a leader in dealer communications to the front offices on what customers buy and why.
"The Toyota Way" is not just for Japan anymore. It is San Antonio's and Detroit's way, too.
San Antonio Express-News
If the U.S.-based auto industry mounts a comeback, it is becoming clear how it will do so with Toyota Motor Corp. management talent.
U.S. automakers are twisting the old saying that if you can't beat them, join them. They are joining Toyota by taking its executives.
On Thursday, Ford Motor Co. hired Toyota's Lexus brand head Jim Farley as a group vice president. Farley will oversee Ford's marketing, advertising and communications worldwide. Farley had made Toyota's Scion a popular brand.
This follows the stunning news last month that Jim Press, Toyota's top U.S. executive, was wrested away by the newly privatized Chrysler LLC as a co-president. Press, who had been the first American on the Toyota board, already helped guide Chrysler through union contract negotiations this week with only a six-hour strike.
In August, Chrysler also landed Deborah Wahl Meyer, a former Lexus marketer.
Will General Motors Corp. raid Toyota management, too? It wouldn't be a surprise.
No one is worried about Toyota's future, however, despite the loss of executives. Even though Toyota does not pay its executives outlandish salaries like other corporations, the Japanese carmaker is known for its depth of corporate management talent. Toyota just reloads when it loses a manager.
The Toyota defections signal something else, too. The three executives believe that Detroit's Big Three are not dead. The U.S.-based auto companies can rebound from slumping sales and market share with the know-how that Toyota has developed.
Toyota does not have to worry that a rebound of the U.S. auto industry would dim its success. The Japanese automaker simply wants to avoid the backlash that would result if the Big Three continue to weaken. Toyota also recognizes the value of having balanced competition in the North American market.
Toyota's influence, of course, extends beyond the auto industry. Thanks to San Antonio's Toyota plant, area manufacturing is benefiting from Toyota's cost-saving ways.
The University of Texas at San Antonio's Institute for Economic Development, for example, has conducted classes on "lean manufacturing" for several years. The philosophy incorporates many of Toyota's tenets, and the classes have enjoyed full enrollment.
One of the main lessons area manufacturers have learned is how to intelligently design production lines that minimize inventory. Inventory is a dirty word at Toyota because stored materials do not add value or bring income.
The main way former Toyota executives likely will help Chrysler and Ford, though, is to strengthen the relationship between products and the dealerships. Toyota has been a leader in dealer communications to the front offices on what customers buy and why.
"The Toyota Way" is not just for Japan anymore. It is San Antonio's and Detroit's way, too.
10-17-07, 12:34 PM
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Toyota USA Exec VP comments on the "brain drain" and the CR debacle
Toyota: No long-term impact from magazine rebuff
Lentz says automaker has deep management bench
by Leslie J. Allen - Automotive News
Consumer Reports decision not to recommend three Toyota vehicles does not signal an end to the companys bulletproof quality reputation, Toyotas U.S. sales chief told Automotive News today.
Jim Lentz, executive vice president of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc., also said the automakers recent loss of three high-profile executives to Chrysler LLC and Ford Motor Co. was not a matter of pay.
Saying that Toyota was showing cracks in its armor after years of sterling reliability, Consumer Reports on Tuesday said it could not recommend consumers purchase the redesigned 2007 V-6 Camry; the four-wheel-drive, V-8 version of the Tundra pickup; or the all-wheel-drive Lexus GS.
Still on top
Lentz said that despite the high-profile rebuff by the respected magazine, the Japanese automaker still placed first in reliability in six of eight categories, and 44 percent of the magazines recommended vehicles are Toyotas.
The bad news from our perspective is we never want to see vehicles on the not recommend list, he said.
Lentz said that because of problems Toyota found with an automatic transmission, he was not surprised the V-6 Camry failed to make the recommended list. He said the problem was with design, not manufacturing, and was quickly corrected.
We knew in the very beginning we had a transmission issue with that vehicle, he said.
The problem caused the vehicle to either get stuck in second gear or shift past second gear roughly. The problem can be traced to a snap ring that holds the transmission housing together.
I dont think its going to have a long-term impact on the overall view of Toyota as a reliable product, Lentz said.
He said he was more puzzled by Consumer Reports decision not to recommend the 4wd Tundra pickup with the V-8 engine and the awd Lexus GS. He said Toyota would have to study the issue.
Toyota has briefed its employees and dealers on the magazines results and assured them it will get to the bottom of the problems.
Well go back as far as we can to isolate what the issue is and correct it, Lentz said.
He said Toyota can still manage its quality effectively despite its rapid growth in the United States.
A brain drain?
Responding to other bad news for the automaker, Lentz said the losses of three top North American executives does not mean Toyota needs to modify its pay structure.
The three departing executives were Jim Press, who had been COO of Toyota Motor North America; Deborah Wahl Meyer, who had been vice president of marketing at Lexus; and Jim Farley, former general manager of Lexus.
All three executives had their own reasons for leaving that were not necessarily related to money, Lentz said.
I dont think its the motivating factor, he said. Was this a shock? Yes. Was it a surprise? Probably not, not when you get down into the real reasons that these folks left.
He said Meyer, who joined Chrysler as chief marketing officer, wanted to move closer to family in the Detroit area.
In the case of Jim Press, the job he was in in New York was really important, but I dont think it was in line with what Jim really wanted to do, he said. Jim really loves the action of being closer to the dealers, and he really couldnt do that from the position.
Press now is co-president of Chrysler, a job that puts him in charge of sales, marketing and product strategy.
Farley, Lentz said, has a passion for Ford Motor Co. and has close family ties to the company. His grandfather was a metallurgist at Fords historic Rouge plant in Dearborn, Mich.
Jim, I think, sees Ford Motor Company and sees an opportunity for him to make a difference to change the direction of Ford Motor Company, Lentz said. He almost, I think, feels an obligation to do that.
Farley now is Fords group vice president of marketing and communications.
Lentz said Toyota already has replaced the departed executives. We have a very deep bench, he said.
I think a lot of people started shopping Toyota, he said. I think the fact that we have been a much higher-profile company in the last few years is a blessing and a curse. The curse part of that is people (competitors) look at our people.
He said Toyotas strength doesnt necessarily lie in its leadership team, however, but with middle management.
http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dl.../1078&refsect=
Lentz says automaker has deep management bench
by Leslie J. Allen - Automotive News
Consumer Reports decision not to recommend three Toyota vehicles does not signal an end to the companys bulletproof quality reputation, Toyotas U.S. sales chief told Automotive News today.
Jim Lentz, executive vice president of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc., also said the automakers recent loss of three high-profile executives to Chrysler LLC and Ford Motor Co. was not a matter of pay.
Saying that Toyota was showing cracks in its armor after years of sterling reliability, Consumer Reports on Tuesday said it could not recommend consumers purchase the redesigned 2007 V-6 Camry; the four-wheel-drive, V-8 version of the Tundra pickup; or the all-wheel-drive Lexus GS.
Still on top
Lentz said that despite the high-profile rebuff by the respected magazine, the Japanese automaker still placed first in reliability in six of eight categories, and 44 percent of the magazines recommended vehicles are Toyotas.
The bad news from our perspective is we never want to see vehicles on the not recommend list, he said.
Lentz said that because of problems Toyota found with an automatic transmission, he was not surprised the V-6 Camry failed to make the recommended list. He said the problem was with design, not manufacturing, and was quickly corrected.
We knew in the very beginning we had a transmission issue with that vehicle, he said.
The problem caused the vehicle to either get stuck in second gear or shift past second gear roughly. The problem can be traced to a snap ring that holds the transmission housing together.
I dont think its going to have a long-term impact on the overall view of Toyota as a reliable product, Lentz said.
He said he was more puzzled by Consumer Reports decision not to recommend the 4wd Tundra pickup with the V-8 engine and the awd Lexus GS. He said Toyota would have to study the issue.
Toyota has briefed its employees and dealers on the magazines results and assured them it will get to the bottom of the problems.
Well go back as far as we can to isolate what the issue is and correct it, Lentz said.
He said Toyota can still manage its quality effectively despite its rapid growth in the United States.
A brain drain?
Responding to other bad news for the automaker, Lentz said the losses of three top North American executives does not mean Toyota needs to modify its pay structure.
The three departing executives were Jim Press, who had been COO of Toyota Motor North America; Deborah Wahl Meyer, who had been vice president of marketing at Lexus; and Jim Farley, former general manager of Lexus.
All three executives had their own reasons for leaving that were not necessarily related to money, Lentz said.
I dont think its the motivating factor, he said. Was this a shock? Yes. Was it a surprise? Probably not, not when you get down into the real reasons that these folks left.
He said Meyer, who joined Chrysler as chief marketing officer, wanted to move closer to family in the Detroit area.
In the case of Jim Press, the job he was in in New York was really important, but I dont think it was in line with what Jim really wanted to do, he said. Jim really loves the action of being closer to the dealers, and he really couldnt do that from the position.
Press now is co-president of Chrysler, a job that puts him in charge of sales, marketing and product strategy.
Farley, Lentz said, has a passion for Ford Motor Co. and has close family ties to the company. His grandfather was a metallurgist at Fords historic Rouge plant in Dearborn, Mich.
Jim, I think, sees Ford Motor Company and sees an opportunity for him to make a difference to change the direction of Ford Motor Company, Lentz said. He almost, I think, feels an obligation to do that.
Farley now is Fords group vice president of marketing and communications.
Lentz said Toyota already has replaced the departed executives. We have a very deep bench, he said.
I think a lot of people started shopping Toyota, he said. I think the fact that we have been a much higher-profile company in the last few years is a blessing and a curse. The curse part of that is people (competitors) look at our people.
He said Toyotas strength doesnt necessarily lie in its leadership team, however, but with middle management.
http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dl.../1078&refsect=
10-17-07, 04:44 PM
#49
Lexus Fanatic
I agree that, with a couple of exceptions like the Cadillac CTS and some Buick models, Ford products are generally the way to go for those seriously interested in a domestic-nameplate purchase. There are several Ford sedans, wagons, and SUV's that I could easily live with in my parking space, despite my well-known preference for Asian-nameplate vehicles. Consumer Reports verifies this, at least to an extent....they are giving more and more Ford-sourced products good ratings.
10-17-07, 06:38 PM
#50
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
Despite all the success that Toyota is having in sales gains, their stock is now right where it was 20 months ago (Jan '06). That's not good. Maybe execs left because their options gained nothing in value.
Another thing... I've heard from many people that working in the U.S. for a major Japanese corporation is frustrating because the Japanese execs don't share information except at the last moment. This lack of sharing and trust often makes U.S. executives powerless except for marketing campaigns and sales tactics.
Finally, 'domestic' car makers getting Toyota's U.S. executives may not gain much of any real knowledge about Toyota's success which has primarily from designing and making popular and reliable vehicles in Japan and some U.S. plants. These execs probably know little about those things.
Another thing... I've heard from many people that working in the U.S. for a major Japanese corporation is frustrating because the Japanese execs don't share information except at the last moment. This lack of sharing and trust often makes U.S. executives powerless except for marketing campaigns and sales tactics.
Finally, 'domestic' car makers getting Toyota's U.S. executives may not gain much of any real knowledge about Toyota's success which has primarily from designing and making popular and reliable vehicles in Japan and some U.S. plants. These execs probably know little about those things.
10-17-07, 06:53 PM
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Let's not make assumptions here. We don't know for sure how much sharing goes on between Japan and US Toyota executives. I will say one thing; if sharing and proper communication did not go on, then we would have been seen a lot more problems with Toyota's US operations and products than we are now.
jruhi4, thanks for that informative Automotive News article. Again, this shows Toyota is not complacent and that Toyota is being very pro-active in terms of solving it's problems.
And it's true what Jim Lentz says: Toyota's strength is not with leadership, where a company relies on a select few individuals, but with middle management, which makes Toyota a very resilient competitor and a company with a very deep bench of talented people. Middle management communicates with the senior execs and leaders of a company as well as with the lowest line workers.
Also, just because Ford and Chrysler snatched up some top Toyota US execs does not mean they will see a dramatic turn-around all of a sudden.
Yes, Jim Press and Jim Farley contributed greatly to Toyota's success, but Toyota is not a company that relies heavily on any one individual. With or without them, Toyota would have been successful anyways. They key is that everyone within Toyota works together as one big team or unit; everyone in the company is extensively trained with the Toyota Way. That is big reason why the company is so successful.
jruhi4, thanks for that informative Automotive News article. Again, this shows Toyota is not complacent and that Toyota is being very pro-active in terms of solving it's problems.
And it's true what Jim Lentz says: Toyota's strength is not with leadership, where a company relies on a select few individuals, but with middle management, which makes Toyota a very resilient competitor and a company with a very deep bench of talented people. Middle management communicates with the senior execs and leaders of a company as well as with the lowest line workers.
Also, just because Ford and Chrysler snatched up some top Toyota US execs does not mean they will see a dramatic turn-around all of a sudden.
Yes, Jim Press and Jim Farley contributed greatly to Toyota's success, but Toyota is not a company that relies heavily on any one individual. With or without them, Toyota would have been successful anyways. They key is that everyone within Toyota works together as one big team or unit; everyone in the company is extensively trained with the Toyota Way. That is big reason why the company is so successful.
10-17-07, 06:59 PM
#52
Lexus Fanatic
Stock prices are not necessarily a measure of a company's size, rate of growth, or financial condition. Like most other things in capitalism, they usually reflect the present demand for that company's stock as opposed to the available supply for sale. "Present", of course, is a relative term, since the stock price literally changes by the minute....there are many "day-traders" who earn their living this way; buying and selling stock shares by the minute. And, your point is well-noted.....that Toyota has grown enormously in the last 20 months, overtaking GM as the world's top auto manufacturer, but at the same time, share prices have not risen accordingly, or have risen and fallen again.
11-05-07, 08:28 AM
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Toyota Pays U.S. Executives Well, Hayakawa Says
By Christie Schweinsberg
WardsAuto.com
Toyota Motor Corp.s pay structure for its U.S. executives is basically in line with the U.S. auto industry, Shigeru Hayakawa, president-Toyota Motor North America, tells Wards here at a media reception during the Tokyo auto show.
We always benchmark other industry competitors and other industries, but in the case of headhunting, they always offer much more money than (our executives) are currently receiving, he says. So sometimes we can compete and sometimes we cannot.
Several recent high-profile departures from Toyotas U.S. operations have called into question Toyotas compensation of U.S. executives.
In August, Deborah Wahl Meyer, former vice president-marketing for Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc.s Lexus unit, as well as Jim Press, Hayakawas predecessor, left for positions at Chrysler LLC.
And just two weeks ago, Jim Farley, vice president-marketing for the Toyota Div., jumped ship for Ford Motor Co., where he will oversee global marketing and communications.
Hayakawa says each of those executives gave different reasons for leaving Toyota, with money just one part of the equation. The opportunity to take on new challenges and occupy a higher rank within their new companies were other factors that led to the departures.
Like Jim Farley, his position is much, much higher (at Ford than it was at Toyota), Hayakawa says.
When asked if U.S. executives could expect to rise to the rank of president of TMC, Hayakawa says not in the near future.
However, the possibility remains for Americans to join Toyotas board of directors.
Press had been appointed a managing officer just prior to his departure.
We have very good executives in the United States, like Jim Lentz (president of TMSUSA) and Steve St. Angelo (president of Toyota Motor Mfg. Kentucky), and many others, just in Toyota Motor Sales, Hayakawa says.
http://wardsauto.com/ar/toyota_pays_executives/
11-06-07, 08:19 PM
#54
Lentz
Toyota Promotes Veteran Jim Lentz
Tuesday November 6, 5:18 pm ET
By Tom Krisher, AP Auto Writer
Toyota Names Lentz President of U.S. Sales and Distribution Following High-Profile Departures
DETROIT (AP) -- Toyota promoted company veteran Jim Lentz to president of its U.S. sales, marketing and distribution operations on Tuesday.
Lentz, 52, who joined Toyota in 1982 and has worked in the auto industry for 29 years, had been executive vice president at Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A.
The promotion comes after a series of high-profile defections from the company, including the stunning departure of Jim Press, 61, the former head of Toyota's North American operations, who left in September to become president and vice chairman of Chrysler LLC. Press' promotion as the first non-Japanese board member at Toyota had been approved with fanfare just three months earlier.
Press was president of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. until his promotion to lead the company's North American operations.
Lentz' promotion fills a vacant position, the company said.
"Jim Lentz is especially well-qualified to lead TMS into the future as it marks 50 years in America," Toyota Motor Sales Chairman Yuki Funo said in a statement. "His experience spans all major operational areas, and he has an outstanding sense of what our customers, dealers and associates expect."
In addition to Press, Jim Farley, a 17-year veteran and group vice president and general manager of Toyota's Lexus luxury division in the U.S, left to join Ford Motor Co. as group vice president of global marketing and communications.
Deborah Wahl Meyer jumped to Chrysler to become vice president and chief marketing officer. Meyer, 44, had spent the last six years at Toyota, most recently as vice president of marketing for Lexus.
Lentz has served in many positions with Toyota including merchandising, distribution, field operations and sales administration. He also was responsible for the launch of Scion, Toyota's new funky brand designed to appeal to young buyers.
Toyota also appointed Dian Ogilvie, 64, to senior vice president and secretary of Toyota Motor North America in New York. She currently is Toyota Motor Sales senior vice president, general counsel and chief environmental officer.
Both promotions are effective immediately, the company said in a statement.
Toyota Motor Corp. shares rose 35 cents to close at $111.99 Tuesday.
Toyota Motor Corp.: http://www.toyota.com
Tuesday November 6, 5:18 pm ET
By Tom Krisher, AP Auto Writer
Toyota Names Lentz President of U.S. Sales and Distribution Following High-Profile Departures
DETROIT (AP) -- Toyota promoted company veteran Jim Lentz to president of its U.S. sales, marketing and distribution operations on Tuesday.
Lentz, 52, who joined Toyota in 1982 and has worked in the auto industry for 29 years, had been executive vice president at Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A.
The promotion comes after a series of high-profile defections from the company, including the stunning departure of Jim Press, 61, the former head of Toyota's North American operations, who left in September to become president and vice chairman of Chrysler LLC. Press' promotion as the first non-Japanese board member at Toyota had been approved with fanfare just three months earlier.
Press was president of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. until his promotion to lead the company's North American operations.
Lentz' promotion fills a vacant position, the company said.
"Jim Lentz is especially well-qualified to lead TMS into the future as it marks 50 years in America," Toyota Motor Sales Chairman Yuki Funo said in a statement. "His experience spans all major operational areas, and he has an outstanding sense of what our customers, dealers and associates expect."
In addition to Press, Jim Farley, a 17-year veteran and group vice president and general manager of Toyota's Lexus luxury division in the U.S, left to join Ford Motor Co. as group vice president of global marketing and communications.
Deborah Wahl Meyer jumped to Chrysler to become vice president and chief marketing officer. Meyer, 44, had spent the last six years at Toyota, most recently as vice president of marketing for Lexus.
Lentz has served in many positions with Toyota including merchandising, distribution, field operations and sales administration. He also was responsible for the launch of Scion, Toyota's new funky brand designed to appeal to young buyers.
Toyota also appointed Dian Ogilvie, 64, to senior vice president and secretary of Toyota Motor North America in New York. She currently is Toyota Motor Sales senior vice president, general counsel and chief environmental officer.
Both promotions are effective immediately, the company said in a statement.
Toyota Motor Corp. shares rose 35 cents to close at $111.99 Tuesday.
Toyota Motor Corp.: http://www.toyota.com
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