Toyota Motor stated on Wednesday that it’s North America chief executive, Jim Lentz, would retire on April 1, and tasked the unit’s chief operating officer, Tetsuo “Ted” Ogawa, with navigating an industry transition to electrification and automation.
Ogawa has so far worked for Japan’s biggest automaker and the United States’ third-largest vehicle seller in numerous posts since 1984. He was appointed to his present role at Toyota Motor North America in November 2018.
In a statement, he stated Lentz “was instrumental in the restructuring and bringing our North American region together.”
Lentz, a 38-year-veteran of Toyota, stated his long tenure including nearly seven years at the helm was in part a function of the automaker’s culture.
“We have a long-term view of things and try to keep our eyes on the horizon and not get seasick with all the dips and twists and turns,” stated Lentz, 64. “The new normal in the world is a little more chaotic and so we have to do a better job of scenario strategy.”
While the industry is dealing with a dramatically different future with the increase of electric, connected and autonomous vehicles along with mobility as a service, Lentz stated he saw the change as more evolutionary and revolutionary.
Lentz also echoed that automakers are still grappling with the ongoing shift in U.S. consumer preference toward sport utility vehicles (SUVs).
Toyota is constructing a $1.6 billion joint venture assembly plant in Alabama with compatriot Mazda Motor which expects to start in 2021. In July, Toyota stated it would build SUVs at the plant instead of its Corolla line of cars.
Lentz said total U.S. auto sales were about 400,000 vehicles higher than the firm forecast of 2018 and estimated the industry would sell about 17 million vehicles this year.
