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Tetsuo Ogawa Succeeds Jim Lentz as Toyota’s North American CEO

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Toyota's Jim Lentz and Tetsuo Ogawa
Photo: Toyota

Toyota has announced that Tetsuo Ogawa, also known simply as “Ted,” will succeed Jim Lentz as chief executive officer of the company’s North American division.

The change will occur on April 1, 2020 (so if you see news reports about it on the day, don’t dismiss it as an April Fool’s joke), and will mark the end of a 38-year career at Toyota for Lentz.

Lentz is perhaps best known for having launched the Scion brand, which had been designed to attract younger generations of drivers to the brand before it was folded back into Toyota.

In 2006, he was named “Marketer of the Year” by Advertising Age, and was named an “All Star” by Automotive News in 2007 and 2017. In 2014, the Automotive Hall of Fame recognized him as an “Industry Leader of the Year.”

In 2010, when he was still only head of U.S. sales, he became the de facto face of the company by testifying to Congress, along with president Akio Toyoda, about the unintended acceleration problems that some of its vehicles had experienced.


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As CEO, he oversaw the consolidation and restructuration of much of Toyota’s operations into a single campus in Plano, Texas. It was one of the biggest structural changes in Toyota’s history in the United States.

Lentz was also responsible for helping Toyota keep up with fast-changing consumer trends that have undermined one of the company’s strengths — small, fuel-efficient vehicles. Over the past few years, the RAV4 utility vehicle overtook the Camry as Toyota’s best-selling vehicle, and the best-selling non-pickup truck in the U.S.

“Jim Lentz has had an incredible impact on our company,” said Ogawa, Lentz’s successor. “He has been an outstanding leader and was instrumental in restructuring the company and bringing together our North American region. He deserves a lot of credit for all he has accomplished in his many roles around the globe and he will be greatly missed.”


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