January 8, 2010 ? New York ? Toyota today announced the appointment of three key executives to lead cross-function efforts in the areas of finance, information technology and communications. The additional responsibilities of all three will be to evaluate, develop and lead joint initiatives among Toyota?s United States affiliates to improve effectiveness, information exchange, revenue enhancement and cost reduction.  The appointments are in addition to their current assignments in their assigned companies.    

 

Katsuyuki Kusakawa, currently senior vice president and treasurer of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., has been appointed chief financial officer.  Mr. Kusakawa joined Toyota Motor Corporation in 1980.  Since then he has held various global assignments, including Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky and Toyota Deutschland GmbH.  He also served as treasurer for Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, Inc. Mr. Kusakawa will continue to be based in Torrance, California and for these additional responsibilities will report to Yoshi Inaba, president and COO of Toyota Motor North America, Inc. and chairman and CEO of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A, Inc.    

 

Barbra Cooper, currently group vice president and chief information officer of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. has been appointed chief information officer.  Ms. Cooper joined Toyota in 1996 as vice president information systems.  She is responsible for the strategy, development and operation of all systems and technology that support TMS. In her role of leading the IT cross-functional efforts, Ms. Cooper will continue to be based in Torrance and will report to Yoshi Inaba. 

 

Jim Wiseman, promoted to group vice president of corporate communications at Toyota Motor North America, Inc. (TMA) on December 16, has been named chief communications officer (CCO).  Jim will work with a cross-affiliate team including representatives from TMS, Toyota Engineering and Manufacturing North America (TEMA) and TMA.

 

In addition to his responsibilities as CCO, Jim will be responsible for TMA corporate communications, corporate advertising and investor relations.    

 

Mr. Wiseman joined Toyota in 1989 and managed the statewide public affairs program for Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, located in Georgetown.  In 1996, he led Toyota?s public affairs department when its North American manufacturing headquarters was established in Erlanger, Kentucky.  He will report to Dian Ogilvie, senior vice president of TMA, and will be based in New York. 

 

There are no plans to change Toyota?s multi-company structure, and there will be no significant geographical relocation of personnel outside of normal operations.

 

Commenting on the announcement, Yoshi Inaba said, ?I?m confident that today?s appointments will improve Toyota?s ability to respond to changing market conditions and customer needs.  Working together and with the support of nearly 34,000 team members and associates in the United States, our chief officers will continue to improve collaboration and prepare Toyota for the future automotive market environment.? 

 

Toyota (NYSE:TM) established operations in the United States in 1957 and currently operates 10 manufacturing plants.  There are more than 1,400 Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealerships in the U.S. which sold more than 1.77 million vehicles in 2009. Toyota directly employs nearly 34,000 in the U.S. and its investment here is currently valued at more than $18 billion, including sales and manufacturing operations, research and development, financial services and design. Toyota’s annual purchasing of parts, materials, goods and services from North American suppliers totals nearly $25 billion.