Jeffrey Guyton is taking on the role of president and CEO of Mazda North American Operations effective June 24. He succeeds Masahiro Moro, who will assume the newly created global position of chief communications officer at Mazda’s headquarters in Hiroshima, Japan.
Guyton will oversee Mazda North American Operations based in Irvine, California; Mazda Canada Inc., based in Toronto; Mazda Colombia, based in Bogota; and Mazda Motors de Mexico, based in Mexico City. In addition, his responsibilities include vehicle production in Salamanca, Mexico, and Huntsville, Alabama, where Mazda will manufacture an all-new CUV designed exclusively for the North American market.
The Mazda Toyota Manufacturing facility, in Huntsville, Alabama, is a joint operation between Mazda Motor Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. The plant is expected to employ up to 4,000 people when it is fully operational and produce up to 300,000 vehicles a year — 150,000 Mazda vehicles and 150,000 Toyota vehicles.
Guyton joined the U.S. team as president of Mazda North American Operations in 2019 and has overseen the launch of Mazda Financial Services, the expansion of the Retail Evolution dealer program and led the organization to year-over-year sales growth in 2020.
“Jeff has successfully led Mazda’s business growth in the U.S. throughout the pandemic, making him a natural choice to strengthen our business across the Americas. In this expanded role, he’ll enhance collaboration across all four regions and continue to grow our brand value as a premium automaker,” Moro said.
Prior to his joining Mazda North American Operations, Guyton served as president and CEO of Mazda Motor Europe.
