Christopher Reynolds, executive vice president and chief strategy officer for Toyota Motor North America (TMNA), will retire effective May 30. In the interim, effective April 1, Reynolds will serve as a Senior Advisor to TMNA. In this role, Reynolds will help with the company’s leadership transition and help guide the company’s restructuring to better position Toyota for the future. Reynolds will continue reporting to Ted Ogawa, president and CEO, TMNA. Concurrently, Reynolds has been nominated to Toyota Motor Corporation’s (TMC) Board of Directors where he will serve as a member of the Board’s Audit and Supervisory Committee in addition to his general duties as a Board member. This nomination is pending final election at the TMC annual shareholder’s meeting in June.
In addition, Chris Yang will take on global roles with TMC currently held by Chris Reynolds. Effective April 1, Yang will take on the responsibilities of leading the Global Compliance and Global Risk functions across Toyota’s operations in seven global regions. Yang will continue to serve as group vice president of Enterprise Strategy and Solutions and deputy general counsel of Legal, TMNA. Yang will also continue to serve as president and chief executive officer at Toyota Connected North America (TCNA).
Reynolds was responsible for the functions of Strategy and Business Development, Human Resources, Research and Development, Corporate Shared Services, Compliance, Risk Management, Sustainability & Regulatory Affairs, Legal, Sustainable Development, Information Technology, OneTech and Connected Technologies across TMNA’s operations in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada and Mexico.
“Chris Reynolds has a proven and wide-ranging track record here in North America and globally, and we are grateful for his leadership,” said Ted Ogawa, president and CEO, TMNA. “We are excited to see Chris take on new global challenges with Toyota and we wish him the best in his future role as director with TMC.”
Reynolds joined Toyota in 2007 and has held key positions at TMC including, global deputy chief officer, and Managing Officer. For North America, he held a number of leadership roles including chief administrative officer, head of Manufacturing operations, and served as chief diversity officer, general counsel and chief legal officer. In addition, he served as group vice president, chief environmental officer and corporate secretary of Toyota Motor Sales, USA. In 2021, he served as chair of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, the auto industry’s D.C.-based trade organization. He is currently on the organization’s Board of Directors.
Before joining Toyota in 2007, Reynolds was a partner at the law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius in New York City, where he worked as manager of the firm’s labor and employment law group, and served as a member of the firm’s advisory board.
Earlier, Reynolds served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York, and as a law clerk for Judge Damon J. Keith, U.S. Court of Appeals, 6th Circuit in Detroit.
Reynolds also serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Southwest Airlines and vice-chair for the Board of AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas. He also serves as a Board member of the Communities Foundation of Texas.
A successor to Reynolds will be announced at a later date.
SOURCE: Toyota
