Toyota-Executive

Toyota’s U.S. division will bring back a former top executive from retirement, as the world’s top automaker battles the sales downturn in its biggest market.

Yoshi Inaba will return to a position at Toyota’s U.S. operations, but his new role has not yet been identified, said Mike Michels, vice president of communications at Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inaba, 63, retired from Toyota earlier this decade after heading Toyota’s U.S. sales arm and holding top positions at Toyota Motor Corp. in Japan.

Michels called reports that Toyota was planning a sweeping reorganization of its U.S. operations “speculative.” The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Toyota would announce an overhaul of its manufacturing, financial and sales divisions in the U.S. as early as Friday and could place Inaba in charge of all three units.

Tokyo-based Toyota is expected to report its first annual loss since 1950 for its fiscal year that ended in March.