Toyota makes manufacturing, engineering executive changes

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America Inc. (TEMA) on December 15 announced the following senior management changes, effective January 4, 2010:

·        Mike Bafan is named president of the TABC parts plant in California, where he was vice president. 

·        Joe Da Rosa is named president of the Mexico plant, where he was vice president.

·        Bafan and Da Rosa replace Hideki Matsunaga.

·        Bungo Hayashi is named senior vice president of TEMA production engineering. 

·        Brian Krinock, vice president of manufacturing at the Cambridge, Ontario, plant, will also serve in the same role for the Woodstock plant.

·        Masamichi Mizukoshi is named vice president of TEMA corporate strategy.  

·        Jeff Moore is named vice president of manufacturing at the Kentucky vehicle plant. He held the same role at the West Virginia engine plant.

·        Abbas Saadat, vice president of vehicle performance development division 2 at Toyota Technical Center (TTC) in Michigan, assumes added responsibility for Division 1. He also oversees the quality promotion division. 

·        Mike Sweers is named vice president of TTC interior design.

·        Dino Triantafyllos is named vice president of TEMA quality.

About Toyota

Toyota established operations in North America in 1957 and currently operates 14 manufacturing plants. There are more than 1,800 Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealerships in North America which sold more than 2.5 million vehicles in 2008. Toyota directly employs nearly 41,000 in North America and its investment here is currently valued at more than $23 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.