Toyota SA promotes Kirby to CEO to ease Van Zyl’s workload
THREE months after being named chief operating officer of Toyota SA to ease the workload on long-time president and CEO Johan van Zyl, Andrew Kirby has been elevated again, to replace him.Mr Kirby will become president and CEO on April 1. Mr Van Zyl, who has run the company since 2002 — the year the Japanese parent bought control from the founding Wessels family — will become chairman.Mr Van Zyl will also step down from his role as CEO of Toyota’s Africa region, to be replaced by Tokyo-based Takeshi Isogaya. However, he will remain CEO of the global company’s Europe region, based in Brussels.Mr Van Zyl has been operating under extraordinary pressure since April 1 last year, when his European appointment meant he was simultaneously head of activities in SA, Africa and Europe.The three jobs have required him to spend two weeks of every month in Brussels, one in Tokyo and one in SA. Toyota SA builds cars and commercial vehicles in Durban but its corporate headquarters are in Johannesbu...
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