ERLANGER — Teruyuki Minoura, president and CEO of Toyota Motor Manufacturing NA since 1998, is returning to Japan next month. He will be succeed by Atsushi “Art” Niimi, a Toyota executive for 31 years, the auto maker said.

Minoura

        A spokeswoman said the change is part of Toyota's normal rotation that moves executives between its Japanese and overseas operations every five years or so.

        Mr. Minoura, 58, came to Erlanger in 1996 as executive vice president to help establish the North American headquarters, which coordinates the automaker's North American manufacturing operations. There are now 10 plants on the continent.

        Since his arrival, the Erlanger headquarters has grown to more than 800 employees.

        Since succeeding Mikio Kitano as president in 1998, Mr. Minoura has overseen the opening of Toyota's truck assembly plant in Princeton, Ind., and its Buffalo, W.Va., engine plant. The company is also building a new truck engine plant in Alabama next year.

        The company's North American product line has expanded to include full-size pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles.

        Toyota's North American production capacity is expected to approach 1.5 million units annually in a couple of years, up from just more than 1 million units annually when Mr. Minoura became president.

        Mr. Niimi, a Toyota director like Mr. Minoura, has specialized in production engineering during most of his years with Toyota.

        Most recently, he has supervised the company's Motomachi and Tsutsumi plants in Japan.

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