Former GM exec joins board at Toyota
Source: Agencies |
March 7, 2013, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
TOYOTA has tapped a former executive at US rival General Motors to join its board, the first time in the Japanese automaker's 76-year history it is appointing directors from outside the company.
The appointment of Mark Hogan, effective April 1, underlines efforts at Toyota Motor Corp to become more internationally-minded, transparent and nimble in regional markets as it recovers from difficult years, including the massive recall fiasco in the United States.
Under the changes unveiled yesterday by President Akio Toyoda, Toyota will set up a new division to oversee North American, European and Japanese markets and another for emerging markets.
The world's biggest automaker also promoted four non-Japanese managers to oversee regional businesses, including James Lentz, an American who already leads Toyota Motor Sales in the US. He will head the North American region.
Like other conservative Japanese companies, Toyota has been far more insular than its Western counterparts, and had been closed in the past to the idea of board members from outside company ranks.
The changes reflect soul-searching at the company following the massive global recalls over sticky gas pedals, faulty floor mats, problem breaks and other defects that spanned several years from 2009, and affected more than 14 million vehicles - some models being recalled repeatedly.
The recalls tarnished Toyota's reputation for quality and raised questions about its ability to respond to problems that crop up in its rapidly expanding global empire, and to reassure international authorities and customers of its trustworthiness and transparency.
Besides Hogan, two Japanese, from the insurance and securities industries, were picked as outside board members. They are Ikuo Uno, an executive advisor at Nippon Life Insurance Co and Haruhiko Kato, president of the Japan Securities Depository Center.
Hogan, an independent consultant and former GM group vice president, has been Toyoda's friend since they worked together more than a decade ago at New United Motor Manufacturing, a California auto plant jointly run by Toyota and GM.
The appointment of Mark Hogan, effective April 1, underlines efforts at Toyota Motor Corp to become more internationally-minded, transparent and nimble in regional markets as it recovers from difficult years, including the massive recall fiasco in the United States.
Under the changes unveiled yesterday by President Akio Toyoda, Toyota will set up a new division to oversee North American, European and Japanese markets and another for emerging markets.
The world's biggest automaker also promoted four non-Japanese managers to oversee regional businesses, including James Lentz, an American who already leads Toyota Motor Sales in the US. He will head the North American region.
Like other conservative Japanese companies, Toyota has been far more insular than its Western counterparts, and had been closed in the past to the idea of board members from outside company ranks.
The changes reflect soul-searching at the company following the massive global recalls over sticky gas pedals, faulty floor mats, problem breaks and other defects that spanned several years from 2009, and affected more than 14 million vehicles - some models being recalled repeatedly.
The recalls tarnished Toyota's reputation for quality and raised questions about its ability to respond to problems that crop up in its rapidly expanding global empire, and to reassure international authorities and customers of its trustworthiness and transparency.
Besides Hogan, two Japanese, from the insurance and securities industries, were picked as outside board members. They are Ikuo Uno, an executive advisor at Nippon Life Insurance Co and Haruhiko Kato, president of the Japan Securities Depository Center.
Hogan, an independent consultant and former GM group vice president, has been Toyoda's friend since they worked together more than a decade ago at New United Motor Manufacturing, a California auto plant jointly run by Toyota and GM.
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