CYPRESS, Calif.—Toyo Tire Corp. has hired John Thomas, an experienced automotive mobility expert, to be the new leader of its U.S. subsidiary.
Thomas, who has more than 30 years of automotive industry experience, including the North American original equipment market, succeeds the retiring Roy Bromfield as president and CEO of Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp.
Thomas is a former CEO at electric-vehicle charging provider Webasto Charging Systems Inc. of Monrovia, Calif.
"I am thrilled to join the elite team at Toyo Tires and drive further advancements of our core business, culture, customer service and industry reputation," Thomas said in a statement issued by Toyo.
"Toyo Tires has created a strong brand that enables us and our partners to uniquely position ourselves in the market," he said. "My commitment is to build on this tradition of excellence, bringing innovative solutions that ultimately set our channel partners and the Toyo Tires team on a course of continued growth and success."
Thomas will report to Tatsuo Mitsuhata, chairman of the board of Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp., who also is a director and corporate officer of Toyo Tire Corp. and vice president of the sales headquarters.
Mitsuhata lauded Thomas' experience "in leading dynamic, growing companies as well as his experience in EV," and said he is "confident John is the right person for this critical role in our most significant market. He will continue our aggressive USA growth plans while maintaining the culture within the company and the commitment to our tire dealers that make Toyo Tires so special."
Toyo said that all departments, including sales, finance, pricing and planning, marketing and product planning and technical services, will report to Thomas.
North America represents 52 percent of Toyo's global sales, or nearly $1.6 billion in 2019.
Thomas has a bachelor's degree from Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich., and resides in Orange County, Calif., with his family.
According to his LinkedIn page, Thomas was the CEO for the last eight months of Advanced Automotive Advisors L.L.C., a consulting firm that guides organizations "to the path of profitability, growth and success."
Prior to that, Thomas was CEO of Webasto for nearly 3 years. Prior to that, he worked in various positions of increasing responsibility at Webasto Group for more than two decades.
Family-owned Webasto develops and manufactures sunroom and convertible roof systems, heating and cooling systems and charging solutions and battery systems for electric mobility.
Bromfield, who is retiring in July after a 37-year career in the tire industry, will serve as an adviser to Toyo at least through year-end.
Bromfield joined Michelin North America Inc. in the mid-1980s after graduating from West Point and serving for eight years in the U.S. Army, joined Toyo in 2012 as COO. He was promoted to president in 2016 and earned the CEO title in 2017.
As president and CEO of TTC, Bromfield has been responsible for all product categories of Toyo-branded business in the U.S. replacement market.
