ERLANGER, Ky., April 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., today announced that Kenji Fukuta will become the new president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Texas, Inc. (TMMTX) effective Tuesday, May 1, 2007.
Current TMMTX president Hidehiko "TJ" Tajima will return to Japan for his new assignment at Toyota Motor Corporation as General Manager of Corporate Social Responsibility, Environmental Affairs Division. As TMMTX's president since October 2003, Tajima successfully oversaw planning and construction of Toyota's sixth vehicle manufacturing plant in North America. In November 2006, TMMTX began assembly of the next-generation Toyota Tundrapickup truck.
Fukuta, who is a 20-year Toyota veteran, comes to TMMTX as former General Manager at Toyota's Tsutsumi plant in Japan, which produces the Prius, Camry and Scion tC vehicles.
TMMTX employs 2,000 team members and has the annual capacity to produce 200,000 Tundras.
About Toyota
Toyota established operations in North America in 1957 and will operate 15 manufacturing plants in North America by 2010. There are more than 1,700 Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealerships in North America which sold more than 2.8 million vehicles in 2006. Toyota directly employs over 41,000 in North America and its investment here is currently valued at more than $18.6 billion, including sales and manufacturing operations, research and development, financial services and design. Toyota's annual purchasing of parts, materials, goods and services from North American suppliers totals more than $28.5 billion. Toyota currently produces 11 vehicles in North America, including the Avalon, Camry, Camry Hybrid, Corolla, Matrix, Sienna, Solara, Sequoia, Tacoma, Tundra and the Lexus RX 350. By 2010, Toyota will have the annual capacity to build approximately 2.2 million cars and trucks, 1.45 million engines and 600,000 automatic transmissions. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyota.com.