Toyota reinforces the manufacturing organization
5 November 2019
As part of its commitment to mobility and helping people find better ways to go places, Toyota Motor North America, Inc. ( TMNA) today announced several changes to further improve unprecedented modifications in the automotive landscape.
With immediate effect, TMNA will establish an Manufacturing Project Innovation Center (MPIC), a new group based at its headquarters, which will be led by Mike Bafan , vice president of the group. Bafan will continue to be president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing of Baja California (TMMBC) and Toyota Motor Manufacturing of Guanajuato (TMMGT).
The MPIC will focus on strategic manufacturing initiatives related to the transformation of mobility; CASE technologies ("connected, autonomous, shared, electrical"); benchmarking ; and advanced processing initiatives that incorporate new technology in the company's 15 North American manufacturing plants. The MPIC will report directly to Christopher Reynolds , general manager of administration, manufacturing and corporate resources.
TMNA will assign manufacturing leaders to align and improve operational speed and transformation in their North American vehicle plants based on common platforms and architectures according to the following:
- Susan Elkington will assume additional responsibilities as leader of the passenger car and SUV platform, in addition to her current role as president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing,Kentucky(TMMK). Elkington will be responsible for operational and platform alignments for TMMK, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada; Toyota Motor Manufacturing,Indiana; and Toyota Motor Manufacturing,Mississippi.
- Kevin Voelkel will assume additional responsibilities as a truck platform leader, in addition to his current role as president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing,Texas(TMMTX). Voelkel will be responsible for operational and platform alignments for TMMTX; TMMBC; TMMGT; and Toyota Auto Body California.
Elkington and Voelkel will continue to report to Brian Krinock , senior vice president of vehicle manufacturing and production engineering.
"These improvements will allow our manufacturing team to better respond to the needs of our customers as we transform our company into a premier mobility company," Reynolds said. "We are more confident than ever that we are at the forefront of the transformation of our industry, and we have positioned ourselves for sustainable and long-term success."
With more than $ 27,000 million in direct investments in the US. UU, which includes 10 US plants, Toyota has pledged to invest $ 13 billion more in the US. UU. by 2021
About Toyota
Toyota has been part of the cultural fabric in the United States and North America for over 60 years, and has made a commitment to foster next-generation sustainable mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a huge value chain while our teams have contributed to the first level design, engineering and assembly of more than 38 million cars and trucks in North America, where we have 14 manufacturing plants, 15 if our joint venture in Alabama is included(10 in the U.S.), and we directly employ more than 47,000 people (over 36,000 in the U.S.). Our 1800 North American dealers (almost 1500 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 how it partners with community, civic, academic and government organizations to address the most pressing mobility challenges in our society. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyotanewsroom.com .
Media contacts:
Victor Vanov
469-292-1318
victor.vanov@toyota.com
Marjorie Schussel
469-292-2404
marjorie.schussel@toyota.com
Source: prnewswire.com