Mark Templin, the current COO of Plano-based Toyota Motor North America, will become president and CEO effective Jan. 1, the automaker said.

Templin will succeed current President and CEO Tetsuo “Ted” Ogawa, who will return to be a senior fellow at parent company Toyota Motor Corp. Hiroshi Nambu, president of Toyota Motor’s business planning and operation division, will take Templin’s place as COO.

To support the transition, Ogawa will serve as senior executive adviser from January through March before becoming a senior fellow in April. In that role, he will manage external affairs at several Toyota-owned businesses.

In a statement, Templin said Ogawa’s “experience and perspective will be invaluable” to the company in his new role at Toyota Motor Corp.

The leadership changes “reflect Toyota’s commitment to developing experienced global leaders and strengthening collaboration across its regions,” the company said.

Overcoming challenges and achieving milestones

Since becoming CEO in 2020, Ogawa has guided Toyota Motor North America through “unprecedented industry challenges,” the company said. Those include the pandemic, supply chain disruptions and regulatory issues.

“His leadership strengthened Toyota’s commitment to building vehicles where it sells them and supporting local communities through investment and job creation,” the company said.

Furthermore, the company said it has reached several North American milestones during Ogawa’s tenure. Among them:

• The 2025 opening of a battery factory in North Carolina, the company’s first in-house battery plant outside Japan. The nearly $14 billion plant will create up to 5,100 jobs, Toyota Motor North America said.
• Plans to invest up to $10 billion more U.S. operations over the next five years. That would bring the company’s total U.S. investments to almost $60 billion.
• Announcement of a $3.6 billion expansion at its San Antonio plant, which makes Tundra pickup trucks and Sequoia SUVs. The expansion will create about 2,000 jobs, the company said.

‘One of the greatest honors of my career’

Also under Ogawa’s leadership, Toyota has bolstered North American manufacturing, R&D, sales, marketing and corporate operations, the company said.

“Leading Toyota in North America has been one of the greatest honors of my career,” Ogawa said in a statement. “I am proud of and deeply grateful to our team members, dealers and partners for strengthening our business and building a foundation for the next generation.”

Ogawa has held leadership roles at Toyota in the U.S., Japan and China since 1984. Before becoming CEO, he was Toyota Motor North America’s executive vice president and COO.

Building on a ‘strong foundation’

When Templin becomes president and CEO in January, he will lead a company with 65,000 employees in North America, including about 4,000 in Plano. Toyota Motor North America opened its 100-acre, 2.1 million-square-foot Plano campus in 2017 following its relocation from Southern California.

“Mark has the experience and vision to build on Toyota’s strong foundation in North America,” Ogawa said. “As the automotive industry continues to evolve, he will strengthen our competitiveness [and] support our team members, dealers and suppliers while delivering products and mobility solutions that meet our customers’ diverse needs.”

Templin took on the COO role in late January 2025. 

He previously spent nine years as president and CEO of Plano-based Toyota Motor Credit Corp., which operates as Toyota Financial Services, the automaker’s lending and insurance arm. Templin joined Toyota in 1990 after a six-year stint at Toyota rival General Motors.

Templin praised Ogawa’s leadership, which he said has positioned Toyota Motor North America for “continued success.”

“I’m honored to build on the foundation he established, working alongside our team members, dealers and suppliers to continue earning our customers’ trust and prepare Toyota for the opportunities ahead,” Templin said.

Toyota Motor North America’s new COO

Nambu, the incoming COO, is returning to the United States, where he had worked at Toyota Motor Sales USA.

As the current head of Toyota Motor Corp.’s business planning and operation division, Nambu oversees sales, operations, mobility and value chain initiatives. Earlier, he held roles in Toyota’s sales, manufacturing and technical operations.

 “Having worked closely with our North American operations throughout my career, I have tremendous respect for the strength of our team, our dealer and supplier partnerships, and the opportunities ahead,” Nambu said in a statement.