Toyota Motor Europe announces executive appointments at Toyota Motor Manufacturing France
Toyota Motor Europe (TME) today announced several executive level appointments at its wholly-owned manufacturing company Toyota Motor Manufacturing France (TMMF) in Onnaing, near Valenciennes, France, effective January 6th, 2014.
Mr Koreatsu Aoki, 54, will be appointed President of Toyota Motor Manufacturing France effective January 6th. Mr Aoki started at TMC in 1983 and is currently General Manager of the Honsha Plant Administration Division at Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) in Japan. Prior to that, Mr Aoki spent five years at Toyota Engineering and Manufacturing, North America (TEMA) where he was Senior Vice President, Production Control & Logistics. His previous assignments included positions in Project Planning, in Production Control at TMC, and a prior assignment at Toyota Motor Manufacturing, UK from 1990 to 1994.
Mr Aoki is succeeding Mr Makoto Sano, 56, who has been serving as President of TMMF since 2009. Mr Sano will stay on as Chief Coordinating Executive until his return to TMC in Japan in early February.Mr Luciano Biondo, 43, will be appointed Senior Vice President, Manufacturing effective January 6th. Mr Biondo is being hired into this position from PSA Peugeot Citroen where he was the head of the Peugeot Mulhouse plant. Prior to this, Mr Biondo was the head of the PSA Tranava plant in Slovakia. Before joining the PSA group in 2006, he had a 6-year experience at TMMF.
Note to editors: TMMF is the home of the Toyota Yaris and Yaris Hybrid. Established in 1999, TMMF started production in 2001 and has since produced more than 2.4 million Yaris for the European market and other export destinations, including North America since May 2013. TMMF produced 200,805 Yaris in calendar year 2012.