Dive Brief:
- Janette Hostettler, Toyota Motor North America VP of manufacturing, is retiring effective Sept.15, the automaker announced in a July 29 press release.
- In 2023, Hostettler was appointed to lead vehicle manufacturing and organization at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky, which is the automaker’s largest global manufacturing facility.
- She’s been a leader in many areas of the manufacturing process throughout her 25-year career, including areas such as paint, plastics, plant engineering, quality and pilot production, according to her corporate bio.
Dive Insight:
Hostettler joined the automaker in July 2000 as a quality engineering specialist at Toyota Indiana. She was promoted to general manager of Toyota Indiana in 2017, where she was responsible for final vehicle assembly of the Toyota Sienna, Highlander and Sequoia. The plant produced 328,136 vehicles in 2024.
In 2018, Hosstettler was named SVP of manufacturing at Mazda Toyota Manufacturing in Huntsville, Alabama. She was responsible for quality and the production start of the Corolla Cross in September 2021 and the Mazda CX-50 in January 2022. Her role at the plant also included hiring and training 4,000 team members.
The plant in Alabama is a joint venture between Toyota and Mazda and has the capacity to assemble up to 300,000 vehicles a year for the two automakers. Toyota and Mazda announced a total investment of $2.3 billion in the plant in August 2020.
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky, which began assembling vehicles in May 1988, can produce 550,000 vehicles and more than 600,000 engines annually. The plant assembled 435,631 vehicles in 2024 and currently builds the Camry Hybrid, RAV4 Hybrid, Lexus ES 350 and 300h, as well as various four-cylinder and V6 engines.
The Camry Hybrid is one of the best-selling hybrid vehicles in the U.S. The sedan has also been the top-selling car in the U.S. for the last 23 consecutive years. Toyota sold 309,876 Camry models in the U.S. last year.
Toyota did not announce a successor for Hosstettler.
