CONGRATULATIONS to Chris Hayes who has been appointed Director of Lexus, effective 01 January 2022.
His move to the top seat follows the retirement of Ewan Shepherd, who has led Lexus for the last five years and some 22 years with Toyota.
Chris, who advances from his Director of People and Planning role, says he foresees an exciting time ahead for Lexus:
I am delighted to be leading the Lexus UK team during such a transformative time for the industry and our brand. Everything we do at Lexus is driven by a relentless focus on delivering an amazing and uniquely personalised, customer experience. With our leading range of hybrid, plug-In and battery electric technologies, we offer today’s consumers a sustainable and genuinely flexible powertrain choice based on their real-world personal mobility and driving needs.
Chris has an extensive Toyota career since he joined in 2003 with a variety of field-based roles before he took up an overseas assignment as a Marketing Manager at Toyota Motor Sales USA in California. Returning to the UK in 2009, he led the Sales Planning and Vehicle Marketing teams before promotion to Marketing Director in 2013. In 2015 he transferred to Toyota Motor Europe in Brussels, taking on responsibility for European pricing strategy and operations, returning to the UK three years later for his most recent appointment.
Announcing his retirement after 22 years with the Toyota (GB) PLC, Ewan Shepherd said:
It has been a privilege to hold a number of leadership roles during my time with the company. It is a dynamic organisation with a great team of energetic, fully engaged people and a great place to work.
I am proud of what my team has achieved in my years as Lexus Director. We have consistently grown all areas of the business to record levels, while achieving the number one position in the Auto Express Driver Power Survey for customer experience in four of my five years at the helm. This is a testament to an amazing range of cars and an outstanding retail network.
Lexus is in a good place – and primed for further growth in the years ahead. I wish Chris Hayes the best of luck in his new role and have every confidence that he will take the brand on to greater success.
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