Toyota recalls former U.S. chief Inaba as woes mount

Toyota Motor Corp. is bringing back Yoshi Inaba, the former U.S. sales chief who left the automaker to run an airport. His return will be approved at the annual shareholders meeting in June, spokesman Irv Miller said today.

That meeting also will approve Akio Toyoda, grandson of the company's founder, as Toyota's new president. He is expected to shake up the automaker's management ranks as the company struggles to cope with its first operating loss in 71 years.

Inaba's job assignment isn't known yet, Miller said. Inaba, who spent two tours of duty in the United States before heading North American operations out of Japan, will "oversee some North American projects," Bloomberg News reported, citing spokeswoman Ririko Takeuchi.

Toyota's sales of Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicles in the United States fell 15.4 percent in 2008 to 2,217,660. They tumbled 31.7 percent in January.

Toyota has been hurt by the general market meltdown in North America, as well as an ill-timed push into full-sized pickups. A surging yen has slashed profits on its North American sales as well.

Inaba, 62, was CEO of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. from 1999 to 2003. While CEO, he added the Scion line to Toyota's lineup. From 2003, he oversaw North American operations from headquarters in Toyota City for several years before taking charge of Toyota's China operations.

He left in 2007 to run an international airport in Nagoya, Japan, near Toyota's headquarters. Inaba's return to Toyota became public knowledge after the airport announced his successor.

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