Yukitoshi Funo Named President of Toyota Motor Sales

TORRANCE, Calif., July 31 -- Yukitoshi "Yuki" Funo officially assumed his responsibilities as president and chief executive officer of Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc. today.

Funo succeeds Yoshi Inaba, who returns to Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) in Japan, where he was promoted to senior managing director and chief officer for the Americas, Oceania, Middle East and Southwest Asia Operations Group.

"I plan to stay the course Yoshi Inaba has set for Toyota and cultivate the seeds which he and Jim Press have planted," said Funo in a nod to his predecessor, Yoshi Inaba, and Jim Press, TMS' executive vice president and COO. "Central to our continued success is teamwork and the ability to adjust quickly to changes in the market," he added.

Funo joined TMC in 1970 after earning a degree in business administration from Kobe University in Japan. In 1976 he received an MBA from Columbia University in New York.

His career at Toyota includes a number of assignments across the globe. He spent nine years in Australia during two separate assignments, first as assistant to the president of Toyota's Australian Motor Industries and later as sales and marketing manager of the Australian operation. In 1992 he was named project general manager of the Asia, Oceania and Middle East planning division of TMC. In 1996 he was appointed project general manager of the Americas' external affairs division. One year later he was named senior vice president and chief coordinating officer of TMS, where he remained until being appointed to the board of directors of TMC in 2000.

Most recently Funo supervised TMC's Americas operations center as well as the government and industrial affairs division in Japan.