All Cars, All the Time

Toyota Cans Top American Executive


Hideaki Otaka, president and CEO of Toyota Motor North America, got the boot after executive assistant Sayaka Kobayash said that Otaka twice groped and sexually harassed her. Jim Press, president of Toyota Motor Sales USA, has been promoted to become president of Toyota Motor North America. Certainly Mr. Press would have been promoted at some point, but the sexual harassment charges put him on an even faster track. Any exec that fights the battle for high-quality materials like aluminum trim instead of cheap plastic is a friend of mine. Yuki Funo, chairman and CEO of Toyota Motor Sales, will add the titles of chairman and CEO of Toyota Motor North America. Toyota Division General Manager Jim Lentz, will become executive vice president and take over Mr. Press' operational duties. In doing this Mr. Lentz will leapfrog other Toyota veterans. Also part of the fallout: more sexual harassment awareness training for everybody, woo hoo!