India executive to lead Toyota’s sourcing in North America
, ET Bureau|
Jan 03, 2018, 08.46 AM IST
MUMBAI: Toyota Motor elevated Sudeep Dalvi, its India incharge of purchase, design and engineering, as the head of sourcing in North America in one of the latest instances where a global automobile major has promoted an Indian executive into a key international role.
Toyota also promoted its India senior vice-president of sales & marketing N Raja as the deputy managing director of Toyota Kirloskar, the local unit of the Japanese company. He also has the additional responsibility of leading the group's luxury car brand, Lexus, in India.
Toyota has a mere 5% market share in India, but has managed to deliver impressive profits with its Innova and Fortuner models being the leaders in their respective segments and commanding a premium over rivals.
While the latest promotions, which are effective from January 1, can be seen as an acknowledgement of the local talent in driving Toyota's performance. Proficiency of Indian executives has been recognised by others like Ford, Volvo and Renault-Nissan, appointing them in critical global roles.
At Ford, Raj Nair, Raj Rao and Kumar Galohtra manage profiles as critical and diverse as the executive vice-president of North American operations, CEO of Ford Smart Mobility and the group vice-president for Lincoln, respectively. Akash Passey is a senior vice-president at Volvo Buses Corporation heading Asian and international operations, while Ashwani Gupta is heading the light commercial business for Renault-Nissan Global.
"Under Team Toyota's Vision 2025, we aim to lead the way to the future of mobility enriching lives around the world with the safest and most desirable ways of mobility with our innovative technologies towards 'Grow India, Grow with India'," Toyota Kirloskar managing director Akito Tachibana said, adding: "I visualise such challenging goals being achieved by the Indians."
The changes are aimed at improving the objectivity and agility of the management team at various functional drives, Toyota said. At Toyota Motor North America, Dalvi would head the purchase functionalities at the company's largest global base. Under his most recent role in India, Dalvi was responsible for increasing local content on its vehicles.
Raja has been with Toyota Kirloskar for five years. Toyota may be keen to utilise his deep understanding of the Indian market while dealing with Suzuki in India for their electric mobility partnership.
Another veteran within the company, Raju B Ketkale, has been elevated to the position of a director at Toyota Kirloskar and senior VP in charge of product design and development, and quality assurance.
Toyota also promoted its India senior vice-president of sales & marketing N Raja as the deputy managing director of Toyota Kirloskar, the local unit of the Japanese company. He also has the additional responsibility of leading the group's luxury car brand, Lexus, in India.
Toyota has a mere 5% market share in India, but has managed to deliver impressive profits with its Innova and Fortuner models being the leaders in their respective segments and commanding a premium over rivals.
While the latest promotions, which are effective from January 1, can be seen as an acknowledgement of the local talent in driving Toyota's performance. Proficiency of Indian executives has been recognised by others like Ford, Volvo and Renault-Nissan, appointing them in critical global roles.
At Ford, Raj Nair, Raj Rao and Kumar Galohtra manage profiles as critical and diverse as the executive vice-president of North American operations, CEO of Ford Smart Mobility and the group vice-president for Lincoln, respectively. Akash Passey is a senior vice-president at Volvo Buses Corporation heading Asian and international operations, while Ashwani Gupta is heading the light commercial business for Renault-Nissan Global.
"Under Team Toyota's Vision 2025, we aim to lead the way to the future of mobility enriching lives around the world with the safest and most desirable ways of mobility with our innovative technologies towards 'Grow India, Grow with India'," Toyota Kirloskar managing director Akito Tachibana said, adding: "I visualise such challenging goals being achieved by the Indians."
The changes are aimed at improving the objectivity and agility of the management team at various functional drives, Toyota said. At Toyota Motor North America, Dalvi would head the purchase functionalities at the company's largest global base. Under his most recent role in India, Dalvi was responsible for increasing local content on its vehicles.
Raja has been with Toyota Kirloskar for five years. Toyota may be keen to utilise his deep understanding of the Indian market while dealing with Suzuki in India for their electric mobility partnership.
Another veteran within the company, Raju B Ketkale, has been elevated to the position of a director at Toyota Kirloskar and senior VP in charge of product design and development, and quality assurance.
