Toyota Announces Executive Appointments for CALTY Design Research

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Toyota Announces Executive Appointments for CALTY Design Research
First American President to Serve at CALTY

04/18/2007 04/18/2007
Toyota today announced executive appointments at Calty Design Research, Inc. (CALTY), the North American arm of Toyota’s global design network.
The organizational changes and promotions at CALTY, effective April 1, 2007, include the following:
Kevin Hunter, vice president of design and studio operations, is promoted to president of CALTY, replacing Yo Hiruta. This appointment marks the first time an American has served as president of CALTY in its 34 years of operation in the United States. In this role, Hunter will oversee advanced and production design as well as research activities for CALTY, one of Toyota’s key research and development functions in North America. Hunter, 47, joined CALTY in 1982, and graduated from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Mich.
Yo Hiruta, president, has been appointed to the new position of chief managing officer of CALTY. In his new role, Hiruta will primarily advise and support the new president.

About Calty Design Research
CALTY designs innovative Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicle concepts for the North American market. Headquartered in Newport Beach, Calif., CALTY’s satellite design studios are located in Ann Arbor, Mich. and New York. CALTY was founded in 1973 in Southern California by Toyota, the first automotive company to recognize the importance of "California car culture" and its powerful influence on national trends. Recently, CALTY has been credited with design contributions on the production versions of the Toyota Matrix, Avalon, Celica, FJ Cruiser and the 2007 Tundra. CALTY has also created numerous motorshow concept vehicles, most recently including the Toyota FT-HS, Toyota F3R, Scion FUSE, and t2B, Toyota FT-SX, and the Lexus LF-C sports coupe.


About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) established operations in North America in 1957 and will operate 15 manufacturing plants in North America by 2010. There are more than 1,700 Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealerships in North America which sold more than 2.8 million vehicles in 2006. Toyota directly employs over 41,000 in North America and its investment here is currently valued at more than $18.6 billion, including sales and manufacturing operations, research and development, financial services and design. Toyota's annual purchasing of parts, materials, goods and services from North American suppliers totals more than $28.5 billion. According to a 2005 Center for Automotive Research study, Toyota, along with its dealers and suppliers, has generated nearly 400,000 U.S. jobs, including jobs
created through spending by direct, dealer and supplier employees.

Toyota currently produces 11 vehicles in North America, including the Avalon, Camry, Camry Hybrid, Corolla, Matrix, Sienna, Solara, Sequoia, Tacoma, Tundra and the Lexus RX 350. By 2010, Toyota will have the annual capacity to build approximately 2.2 million cars and trucks, 1.45 million engines and 600,000 automatic transmissions.