Jack Hollis, present head of gross sales for Toyota Motor North America:
“Sato-san is well-known to North America and particularly to our Lexus sellers … He truly spoke at our Lexus nationwide seller assembly this 12 months. So what it means to us is, that is one other good friend of North America.
“My iPhone was blowing up this morning and every one of the first 10 calls were from Lexus dealers on the East Coast, got the message, and they’re like, ‘oh, my gosh, this is great.’ Oh, the transition is starting and we couldn’t be more happy. Oh, they chose the person we hope to have those kinds of things. So that’s how it feels.”
“What’s great for us in North America is that he’s been in the U.S. for about 10 years studying our market. He’s very passionate about dealers, about the franchise model and about product … A true car guy.”
Steve Gates, Toyota seller council chairman:
“I definitely have no idea (Koji Sato) nicely, however I’ve been lucky during the last couple of years to have had the chance to speak to him at each Toyota and Lexus conferences.”
“He is engaging. He was so interested in my business and the market in general, but he made it very personal, which made it feel very Toyota-like.”
Under Sato’s tenure as head of Lexus, “we saw the modernization of our product,” Gates mentioned. “We started getting what we had wanted for years: more beautiful, more performance, more style.”
Sato, he mentioned, “helped to transform the brand.”
When Toyota was experiencing remembers and accusations of unintended acceleration, “I was scared to death and I think most dealers were,” Gates mentioned. “Then (Akio Toyoda) came in and spoke to Congress, and he gave all of us confidence. We believed in him, still believe in him.”
Toyoda “is an inspiration. I would run through brick walls for him.”
Looking towards the transition in management, Gates mentioned: “I don’t think we’ll see changes and things will just continue to improve. (Sato and Toyoda) are a great team and great friends. So, I’m thrilled.”
Richard Truett, Larry P. Vellequette and Paige Hodder contributed to this report.
Source: www.autonews.com