Tachibana is new MD of Toyota

Toyota Kirloskar Motor  (TKM) on Wednesday said it had appointed Akito Tachibana as managing director from April, replacing incumbent head Naomi Ishii within two years of his stint in India.

Ishii moves back to Toyota Motor Corporation as the general manager of corporate planning division. Ishii headed Toyota Kirloskar Motor since January 2014.

Tachibana currently heads the technical, purchase and quality assurance functionst at TKM, the firm said.

A three-decade veteran of Toyota, Tachibana’s earlier stints include leadership positions at its units in Thailand, Vietnam and in the US, heading corporate and product planning.

TKM is the second Japanese firm to replace its India head. Last month, Honda Motor Co said it is replacing its India President and Chief Executive Katsushi Inoue with Yoichiro Ueno from April.

Inoue has been elvated to be the operating officer at Honda in addition to chief operating officer of European operations.