Toyota Announces North American Executive Leadership Changes

PLANO, Texas, (June 24, 2019) – Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) today announced that Cooper Ericksen will be promoted to group vice president, product planning and strategy, effective Aug. 5. He will be responsible for product planning, pricing, cross carline technology and advanced product strategy.

Ericksen has been with Toyota since 1991, serving most recently as vice president, TMNA cross carline, alt fuels and Lexus product planning. His previous roles have included vice president of marketing for the Lexus Division, and vice president and corporate manager of vehicle marketing and communications at TMNA. Ericksen also has experience working in several of Toyota’s regional offices, including Central Atlantic, San Francisco, Portland and Boston.

He will report to Bob Carter, executive vice president, sales.

Ericksen will replace Andrew Coetzee, who plans to retire on Aug. 2 after 31 years of service to Toyota. Coetzee’s vast contributions to Toyota include helping to form, and being the first leader of, the Product Planning group, which strengthened the collaboration between the longer-range focus of Advanced Product Strategy and Vehicle Planning.

The following manufacturing changes will take effect on July 1, 2019:

Mike Bafan will take on a new assignment as chairman of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Baja California (TMMBC) and Toyota Motor Manufacturing Guanajuato (TMMGT) in addition to his responsibility as president, Toyota de Mexico. He currently serves as president of TMMBC and TMMGT.

Oscar Quijada will be promoted to president, TMMBC, from his current position of vice president, manufacturing.

Francisco Garcia will be promoted to president, TMMGT, from his current position of vice president, manufacturing.

Bell, Smith and Seavey Score Wins on Father’s Day Weekend

June 17, 2019

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 38 million cars and trucks in North America, where we have 14 manufacturing plants, 15 including our joint venture in Alabama (10 in the U.S.), and directly employ more than 47,000 people (over 36,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold 2.8 million cars and trucks (2.4 million in the U.S.) in 2018.

Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyotanewsroom.com.

Karen Nielsen
469-292-2659
[email protected]