Jim Press leaving Toyota for Chrysler
(Credit: Chrysler)Chrysler has named Jim Press as a president and vice chairman, CEO Robert Nardelli said Thursday.
Press, former president of Toyota Motor North America, was the first non-Japanese person to be appointed to Toyota's board of directors in the company's history. He was appointed to the board in June, after working at Toyota for 37 years.
Press' resignation from Toyota is effective September 14. That same day, Shigeru Hayakawa, the current Toyota Motor North America vice president and managing officer, will become president, according to Toyota.
Press leaves Toyota to serve under Chrysler's Nardelli, alongside Tom LaSorda, who is also a vice chairman and president at Chrysler.
"Part of my new responsibilities will be strengthening and energizing the dealer body. This is something I was passionate about at Toyota and will be passionate about at Chrysler," Press said in a statement.
Press will be responsible for "North American and international sales, global marketing, product strategy, and service and parts" for Chrysler, while LaSorda will be responsible for "manufacturing, procurement and supply, employee relations and global business development and alliances."
On Tuesday, Toyota Motor Sales, which includes the Toyota and Lexus brands in the U.S., announced record sales for the first half of 2007.
Toyota Motor sold 1,331,074 vehicles since the beginning of the year, making it the "best-ever first half of the year" for the U.S. branch, which also experienced record sales for the quarter.
About 725,219 vehicles were sold in the second quarter, with 245,739 of them selling in June alone. The June number is a 6.1 percent increase over June 2006.
The news follows two other major announcements from Toyota earlier this month.
Jim Press, general manager of Toyota Motor North America, which includes Toyota Canada among others, was the first person not from Japan to be appointed to Toyota's board. Toyota also announced in June that it had its 65th consecutive month of growth for production worldwide.
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