Brett Wood will add the chief executive’s post at Toyota Material Handling North America in Columbus, Ind., to his title as chairman of Irvine-based Toyota Material Handling U.S.A. Inc.
Wood also serves as executive vice president of Toyota Material Handling North America. He will take the top post after Chief Executive James Malvaso retires in April.
Wood plans to split his time between Irvine and Indiana.
Toyota Material Handling North America is the umbrella company managing three separate entities: Toyota Material Handling U.S.A.; Greene, N.Y.-based lift truck manufacturer Raymond Corp.; and Columbus, Ind.-based Toyota Industrial Equipment Mfg. Inc.
Toyota Material Handling U.S.A. is the domestic distributor of Toyota’s lift trucks and tow tractors, as well as automated guided vehicles. It also is the sole distributor of Japan’s Aichi Corp. brand of aerial work platforms, including scissor lifts and crawler boom lifts.
Toyota Material Handling U.S.A. moved its headquarters to Irvine in 2002 from Torrance, home of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. It has about 100 employees in the Irvine office.
Wood joined Toyota Material Handling U.S.A. in 1989 and held a number of posts there. He was vice president of marketing, product, strategic planning and training operations, prior to serving as president from 2009 to 2011.
He was at Armonk, N.Y.-based International Business Machines Corp. and Falls Church, Va.-based Northrop Grumman Corp. before coming to Toyota.
Malvaso will serve as senior adviser to Toyota Material Handling Group, based in Kariya, Japan, after he retires.
