Another Toyota executive moves to rival
Toyota’s advertising slogan is “Moving Forward.”
Its U.S.-based executives keep moving out.
Jim Farley, head of the automaker’s Lexus division and a driving force behind the popular Scion brand, left to run struggling Ford Motor Co.’s global marketing operation, Ford said Thursday, becoming the third high-level executive to depart Toyota’s North American business since August.
Last month Jim Press, Toyota’s top U.S. executive and former head of Torrance-based Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc., quit to take a job at Chrysler. Chrysler already had snagged Deborah Wahl Meyer, then head of marketing for Lexus, Toyota’s luxury brand.
Analysts said such defections didn’t hurt Toyota, which is known for the depth of its management ranks.
“All three of those people are really good, but Toyota has tremendous bench strength,” said Jim Hossack, an analyst with AutoPacific Inc. in Tustin. “I think it’s a testimony to Toyota that they attract the best in the industry.”
Farley was replaced at Lexus by Mark Templin, who had been running the Scion division, a youth-oriented vehicle line known for its quirky marketing campaigns. Sales of most Scion models are down sharply this year, and Toyota is grappling with the slowdown in U.S. sales that is affecting most carmakers.
But Toyota is overtaking General Motors Corp. as the world’s largest automaker -- and recently replaced Ford as No. 2 in the U.S.
Ford’s share of the American market has dropped from about 25% a decade ago to less than 15% today.
“Farley’s biggest challenge is going to be to get people to consider the brand at all,” Hossack said. “In some parts of the country -- including California -- besides the F-Series pickups and the Mustang, I don’t think many people even consider Ford.”
Marketing could be a big reason for that, Hossack said, because Ford has some good vehicles in showrooms now, such as the new Taurus.
Ford Chief Executive Alan Mulally, brought in last fall to reverse the automaker’s flagging fortunes, said in an interview Thursday that marketing had been a top priority since he arrived in Detroit.
He said he wanted the company to focus on sniffing out market trends and consumer preferences and “translate that into products that people really get excited about.”
Farley will report directly to Mulally -- a first for Ford and an indication of the emphasis the CEO is putting on marketing and product development.
Ford declined to disclose Farley’s compensation.
A rising star in Torrance, the 45-year-old Farley joined Toyota in 1990. He has an MBA from UCLA and is a native of Michigan. In a statement, he said he restored a 1966 Mustang when he was a teenager and drove it from California to Michigan.
“I am excited to make that trip once again,” he said.
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