Longtime Toyota Motor North America government Ed Laukes will retire Jan. 4 as group vp of Toyota Division advertising and marketing.

A successor within the prime advertising and marketing position is predicted to be named subsequent month, the Japanese automaker mentioned Wednesday.

Laukes, 62, oversees market planning, promoting, gross sales promotion, incentives, merchandising and motorsports, together with Toyota’s social and digital media, in a task he has held since April 2017. He joined the automaker in 1989, and held administration positions with the Toyota and Lexus manufacturers, in addition to the corporate’s subject employees. He was beforehand vp of built-in advertising and marketing operations, and vp of engagement advertising and marketing and visitor expertise.

His retirement comes as Toyota’s U.S. gross sales acquire momentum and recuperate from the coronavirus outbreak.

The automaker’s U.S. gross sales rose 8.8 % to 205,349 in October — a file for the month — with quantity up 7.8 % on the Toyota division and 15 % at Lexus.

“Ed’s experience and deep understanding of promoting helped form Toyota’s notion amongst its clients when it comes to security, high quality, reliability and fun-to-drive automobiles,” Bob Carter, the automaker’s head of gross sales, mentioned in a press release. “He is been instrumental within the success of our motorsports program, together with 29 NASCAR championships throughout all three nationwide touring collection since 2007. The model has really thrived underneath Ed’s management and we thank him for his 31 years of service with Toyota.”

Along with his position at Toyota, Laukes is on the board of administrators for a number of inside and exterior organizations, together with: Toyota Racing Growth, the Texas Rangers Youth Academy, Joe Gibbs’ Youth For Tomorrow, The Household Well being Facilities of Georgia, and the Kyle Busch Basis.