Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd., based in Osaka, Japan, announced a series of top management changes designed "to strengthen top-line growth and performance."
The executive changes are:
* Shozo Katayama, Toyo's chief executive officer and president, will take over as chairman of the board and remain CEO.
* Yoshio Kataoka, president of Toyo’s chemical and industrial products division, has been named president, succeeding Katayama, and chief operating officer.
The promotions will go into effect April 1, 2002.
Kataoka, 58, joined Toyo Tire in 1968 as a national sales trainee in Osaka. He was elected a member of the board of directors in 1998.
