Toyota Motor Sales shuffled around its team of executives recently and the changes affect a good number of people. All three of the automaker’s divisions will be altered and while numerous positions will be occupied by new faces, only one is brand new to the company. Serving as the new Vice President/Assistant General Counsel is Sandra Phillips who will help the North American legal services. A well versed ace in the art of law, Phillips will bring her expertise of class action law suits, product liability and securities as well as government and regulatory investigations to the Toyota Team.
On the cusp of retirement, Don Esmond, Toyota Motor Sales’ former Senior Vice President, will now be the company’s senior advisor. He will continue to report to the President and CEO Jim Lentz who will now have Bob Carter as the new Senior Vice President. Carter, who was the Group Vice President of Toyota Division, will now fully oversee the branch and its sales administration. A man by the name Jack Hollis will no longer be the Vice President of Scion but instead, he will serve as Toyota Marketing’s new Vice President. Taking the place of Hollis will be Doug Murtha who was formerly the Vice President of Product Planning.
For the full list of changes, see Toyota Motor Sales press release below:
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Bob Carter, Group Vice President & General Manager – Toyota Division, is promoted to Senior Vice President – Automotive Operations and will oversee the Toyota Division and Sales Administration. Carter will report to Lentz.
Mark Templin continues as Group Vice President & General Manager – Lexus Division. As mentioned earlier this year, Templin has concurrent responsibility as General Manager – Lexus Product and Marketing Planning Division – Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) on a global basis. As GVP & General Manager – Lexus Division, he will report to Lentz. In his global role, he will continue to report to Kazuo Ohara, Managing Officer – TMC.
Bill Fay, Group Vice President – Marketing, is appointed Group Vice President & General Manager– Toyota Division. Fay will continue to report to Carter.
Randy Pflughaupt, Group Vice President – Sales Administration, will continue in his current role and report to Carter.
Jack Hollis, Vice President – Scion, is appointed Vice President – Toyota Marketing. Hollis will report to Fay.
Doug Murtha, Vice President – Product Planning, is appointed Vice President – Scion, replacing Hollis. Murtha will report to Fay.
Chris Hostetter, Group Vice President – Strategic Resources is appointed Group Vice President – Strategic Planning. Hostetter will lead a team that includes Strategic Research & Advanced Product Strategy under Flaurel English, Knowledge Resources under John Kramer and Business Strategy, which will now include Vehicle Export Operations, under Nihar Patel. Hostetter will report to Lentz.
Andrew Coetzee, Vice President – Lexus Customer Service is promoted to the newly created position of Group Vice President – Product Planning which will now include Advanced Technology under Jon Bucci. Coetzee will report directly to Lentz.
Peggy Turner, Vice President – Customer Relations, is appointed Vice President –Customer Service – Lexus, replacing Andrew Coetzee. Turner will report to Templin.
Nancy Fein, Vice President – Vehicle Supply Chain, is appointed Vice President, Customer Service – Toyota. Fein will report to Fay.
Dave Camden, Vice President – Dealer Operations TCS, is appointed Vice President – Service & Parts Support. Camden will continue to report to Davidson.
Sandra Phillips joins TMS as a new Vice President/Assistant General Counsel, reporting to Chris Reynolds, Group Vice President and General Counsel. Phillips will assist Reynolds in his role as chief legal officer building a North American legal services capability. She comes to TMS from Morgan, Lewis & Bockius L.L.P. (Houston, Texas) where she was a partner. She brings experience and expertise in class action suits, product liability and securities matters as well as government and regulatory investigations. Phillips’ experience also includes admissions to the State Bar of Texas, New York State Bar, United States Supreme Court, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and United States District Courts for the Southern, Eastern, Western and Northern Districts of Texas.
