PLANO, Texas, May 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) today announced, effective July 1, 2023, Shinichi Yasui, executive vice president, Toyota Motor North America, Research & Development, will be appointed Chief Project Leader, Hydrogen Factory at Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC).

TMC's Hydrogen Factory is a newly established organization dedicated to accelerating customer-focused product development and production of fuel cells and hydrogen-related products. The goal is to align business strategy, development, production, sales and marketing under one roof to enable faster decision-making, stronger alliances with rapidly expanding markets, including China and Europe, and the promotion of sustainable commercialization.

A 35-year Toyota veteran, Yasui has been a member of Toyota's North American Executive Committee since 2017, leading the company's R&D operations in the region. Yasui joined TMC in 1988 as an engineer, developing air bag systems, seats and seat belts. Over the years he held a variety of engineering and product planning roles and in 2013, became chief engineer for all Corolla models. In 2016, he was appointed executive general manager of product planning at TMC's Mid-Size Vehicle Company before becoming executive vice president at TMNA. Yasui holds a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Meiji University in Tokyo and an Executive MBA from the University of Michigan.

Yasui's successor and details about his new role will be shared at a later date.

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships. 

Toyota directly employs more than 48,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 45 million cars and trucks at our 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota's 14^th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 22 electrified options.

Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society's most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

TMNA R&D 

For more than 50 years, Toyota Motor North America Research & Development (TMNA R&D) has led engineering for several of the best-selling Toyota vehicles on U.S. roads. Teams are now creating both next-generation vehicles and new and advanced mobility concepts that can better move people, goods and information. Toyota's innovation has produced more patents from the United States Patent and Trademark Office than any other automaker for the past 9 consecutive years (3,056 in 2022). Centered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, TMNA R&D is pursuing Toyota's mission to "Produce Happiness for All" by making life safer, easier and more enjoyable. Globally, Toyota spends approximately $1 million per hour on R&D to ensure that Toyota rapidly and continuously develops cutting-edge, high-quality, and appealing vehicles.

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Edward Hellwig
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