Toyota’s Latin America CEO to Retire

Longtime Toyota Motor Corp. executive Steve St. Angelo is retiring after 14 years with the carmaker, effective April 1.

St. Angelo has headed Toyota’s operations in Latin America and the Caribbean since March 2013. He will be succeeded in that position by Masahiro Inoue, who currently serves as St. Angelo's deputy.

St. Angelo previously headed Toyota’s massive manufacturing operations in Georgetown, Ky. The charismatic native Detroiter also served as Toyota’s quality chief in North America, where he helped implement changes following the carmaker’s large-scale safety recall problems in 2010.

Before joining Toyota, St. Angelo worked for General Motors Co. His tenure there included a 10-year stint at the former GM-Toyota NUMMI joint venture assembly plant in California.

In Latin America, St. Angelo led Toyota’s 22% sales gain over five years. He outlined the carmaker’s plans for growth in the sector in an August interview with AutoBeat Daily.