Toyota's Fay, Pflughaupt swap roles in sales, marketing shuffle

LOS ANGELES -- Toyota Division, relying on steep incentives to sustain demand during its recall crisis, has shuffled chiefs in its U.S. sales and marketing posts.

Randy Pflughaupt, group vice president of marketing, on Tuesday was named group vice president of sales administration. That job had been held by Bill Fay, who takes Pflughaupts's marketing position.

Fay will report to Bob Carter, general manager of Toyota Division. Pflughaupt's new role includes sales administration, Toyota logistics services and Toyota Motor Sales international operations. He will report to Don Esmond, senior vice president of automotive operations.

Jim Colon, who had been Toyota's vice president of sales, has been appointed to the new created position of vice president of product communications. He will be responsible for promotion initiatives for Toyota vehicles and for the product and sales training for Toyota dealers. He reports to Fay.

Jeff Bracken, the Los Angeles region general manager, has been named vice president of sales, replacing Colon. Bracken also reports to Carter.

Toyota offered interest free-financing and other incentives in early March after recalling more than 8 million vehicles globally, primarily to address unintended acceleration concerns.

The incentives spurred U.S. sales increases of 43 percent in March and 26 percent in April after the brand posted sales declines and lost share in January and February.