REUTERS: Toyota Motor Corp on Wednesday said its North America chief executive, Jim Lentz, would retire on April 1, and tasked the unit's chief operating officer, Tetsuo"Ted" Ogawa, with navigating an industry shift to electrification and automation.
Lentz, a 38-year-veteran of Toyota, said his long tenure including almost seven years at the helm was in part a function of the automaker's culture. While the industry is facing a dramatically different future with the rise of electric, connected and autonomous vehicles as well as mobility as a service, Lentz said he saw the change as more evolutionary and revolutionary.Lentz also noted automakers are still grappling with the continuing shift in U.S. consumer preference toward sport utility vehicles .
Lentz said overall U.S. auto sales were around 400,000 vehicles higher than the firm forecast last year, and estimated the industry would sell about 17 million vehicles in 2019.Lentz guided Toyota in the United States through a number of challenges, most notably the 2010 unintended acceleration crisis that prompted the recall of millions of vehicles.