Toyota Motor Corporation has appointed Didier Leroy as president of Toyota No. 1 at TMC. The appointment took place at the 111th general shareholders meeting today.
In this position, Mr Leroy will oversee the R&D, manufacturing and sales operations for the North America, Europe and Africa regions; the Japan Sales Business Group; and the Product Planning, Design and Motorsports functions related to the Toyota No.1 regional scope. He also became today the first non-Japanese executive vice-president of TMC, as well as member of the Board of directors of TMC.
This appointment takes place after the announcement made by TMC in March about changes to its executive structure in Japan, altering roles of top management. Mr Leroy will be based in Brussels.
Mr Leroy qualified as an engineer from the Ecole Supérieure des Sciences et Technologies de l’Ingenieur of Nancy in 1981. In 1993 he completed the Management Program at CEDEP/INSEAD.
He began his career in the automotive industry in 1982 with Renault, where he held a number of senior positions at their production plants over a 16-year term. In 1996, he was given responsibility for production of the Le Mans plant, becoming the youngest Deputy Plant Director of the Renault Group at that time.
Mr Leroy joined Toyota Motor Manufacturing France (TMMF) in September 1998 as vice-president in charge of manufacturing. Five years later, he was appointed senior vice-president responsible for overseeing the change in TMMF’s operations from two to three manufacturing shifts, further boosting production capacity.
In January 2005, Mr Leroy was appointed president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing France and also a Managing Officer of Toyota Motor Corporation and an executive vice-president of Toyota Motor Europe (TME) in June 2007. In April 2010, Didier Leroy was appointed chief quality officer, serving as Europe's representative in the newly established Special Committee for Global Quality, chaired by TMC president Toyoda. In July 2010, he was appointed president of Toyota Motor Europe, also retaining his responsibilities of TMC Managing Officer and Chief Quality Officer.
In April 2011, Mr Leroy became president and CEO of TME and chief regional officer of TMC for Europe. In addition to his TME responsibilities in R&D, manufacturing, sales & marketing and after-sales, he coordinates the strategy of TMC operations in greater Europe, including Toyota's design studio in Sophia Antipolis, France (ED2), Toyota Motorsport GmbH (based in Cologne, Germany), and Toyota's financial services units.
In April 2012, he was promoted to senior managing officer of Toyota Motor Corporation, and in April 2015, was appointed President of Toyota No. 1, which covers R&D, manufacturing and sales for the North America, Europe, and Africa regions; the Japan Sales Business Group; and the Product Planning, Design and Motorsports functions related to the Toyota No.1 regional scope.
In June 2015, he has become the first non-Japanese executive vice-president of Toyota Motor Corporation and a board member of the company.