Toyota Appoints Dr. Takis Athanasopoulos As Executive Vice President And Chief Operating Officer
On 2 January, 2001, Dr. Takis Athanasopoulos will join Toyota Motor Europe Marketing and Engineering* (TMME) as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. In his new role, Dr. Athanasopoulos will have responsibility for all of TMME’s operations.
Dr. Athanasopoulos joined Toyota Hellas (Greece) in 1986 as Executive Vice Chairman, and was part of the team that started the company. From 1989 until the present he has been Chairman and CEO. Under his management Toyota became the leading make in Greece, both in terms of volume and customer satisfaction.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering, a Masters in Business Administration and a Ph.D. in Business and Economics. His teaching career, which began in 1975, has included positions at Loyola University of Chicago and Wright State University in Ohio, where he was Associate Dean for academic and research programmes of the School of Business and Administration.
In 1981 he returned to Greece as Professor of the Chair of Business and Economics at the University of Piraeus, where he became Rector from 1987 to 1990, and is now Professor Emeritus. He has extensive experience as a financial and business consultant, is the Chairman of the Greek-Japanese Chamber of Commerce, and has written a wide range of books and scientific articles in the area of Business Administration.
Born in 1944 in Greece, Dr. Athanasopoulos is married and has three daughters.
According to Mr. Imai, President and CEO of TMME: “The appointment of Dr. Athanasopoulos is an important step in the growing Europeanisation of all our activities, in line with Toyota’s global management practice.
“With his vast business and management experience, and as someone who has been so intimately involved with Toyota’s growth and development in Europe, I have no doubt that he is the right man to guide us to the fulfilment of our strategic vision – to become a true European Headquarters within the next few years. Amongst others, he will be in a position to strengthen our ties with all our Distributors in Europe, and to develop the right strategic approach throughout the value chain. I would therefore like to warmly welcome Dr. Athanasopoulos to our TMME team.”
ENDS
Note to editors
Toyota Motor Europe Marketing and Engineering (TMME) was established in October 1990 and is the umbrella organisation handling wholesale marketing and engineering of Toyota and Lexus vehicles, parts and accessories. The organisation has its head office in Brussels, Belgium, and currently employs approximately 1,200 people of more than 20 different nationalities.
