Toyota Motor’s North American unit plans to operate with more autonomy from its Japanese parent, the first American president of the division told Reuters, as it strives to build an image as an American car company.
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“The North American operations will have more authority and self-reliance over time,” Jim Press told the news agency on the sidelines of a speech for a women’s alliance in Detroit.
Toyota wants to portray itself as an American automaker making direct contributions to the US economy and building products more suited to American tastes.
The company plans to open a plant in Texas that will start making Tundra pickup trucks in October. It is also planning to build an engine plant in the United States and is expanding its technical center in Michigan, Reuters noted.
The report said that Press was president of Toyota’s US sales operation until Monday, when he was named president of Toyota Motor North America (TMNA). Yuki Funo, who was chairman and chief executive of Toyota’s US sales unit, was appointed chairman and chief executive of TMNA.
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By GlobalDataPress told Reuters he was offered the job a month ago, and was scheduled to start in June, but a sexual harassment lawsuit against the former head of TMNA accelerated his move.
Press reportedly said he plans to improve coordination among Toyota’s three affiliates in North America – the sales and service, manufacturing and engineering, and research and design units.
“I’m hoping that at the holding company level, we can identify opportunities where all the affiliates can work together, sharing resources,” he said. He told the news agency there were no plans to consolidate the divisions.
Press also said that positions of “senior managing director,” traditionally held only by Japanese employees, would soon open up to Americans. “We will have a global executive in that position,” he said.
Press told Reuters Toyota would eventually build its Prius hybrid car in the United States, but declined to provide a timeframe.
