Dr Johan van Zyl, Chairman of Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) and President and CEO of Toyota Motor Europe (TME), is being promoted from Managing Officer to Senior Managing Officer by Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC). The appointment will be effective from the 1st of April 2017. He will become the first African to be appointed Senior Managing Officer by TMC.
Dr Johan van Zyl started his career with Toyota South Africa Motors in 1993 as the Director: Vehicles Sales and Dealer Network. This was the starting point of a great career with the company. Prior to Toyota South Africa, Dr van Zyl was mainly involved in education both as a lecturer and a student.
After obtaining his doctorate in commerce, Dr van Zyl started lecturing at the University of Potchefstroom. Before entering the motoring industry, Dr van Zyl was awarded professorship and consulted to various businesses.
In 1993, he joined Toyota and was responsible for all sales activities as well as dealer network. In 1995, Dr van Zyl was promoted to Group Marketing Director and was responsible for all sales and marketing activities. In July 1996, he was promoted to Managing Director: Vehicle Marketing where his responsibilities enlarged to include Hino Truck operations in South Africa.
In 1997 he became the Managing Director: Toyota (SA) Marketing and a year later became the President and Chief Operating Officer of Toyota South Africa Motors. He was promoted into the position of President and Chief Executive Officer of Toyota South Africa Motors in 2002. In 2009, Dr van Zyl was appointed as Managing Officer of Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan and in 2013, he added Chief Executive Officer for Toyota in Africa to his responsibilities.
His exceptional business acumen and knowledge of the industry have been strengthened over the years with travels to Japan, the United States and into Africa. The latest promotion comes exactly two years after Dr van Zyl was appointed CEO of TME.