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http://www.autonews.com/article/20180522/OEM02/180529912/bracken-christ-lexus-toyota
Jeff Bracken, who has led Lexus' U.S. operations since 2013, is retiring after 40 years with Toyota, and will be succeeded by David Christ, Lexus' vice president of sales operations.
Bracken will remain with Lexus as an executive adviser until Aug. 1.
Christ joined Toyota in 1994 and has held several positions at regional sales offices for Toyota Motor Sales, as well as positions in distribution, customer retention and financial services. He was vice president of sales and dealership development at Toyota Division until the beginning of this year, when he traded jobs with his Lexus counterpart, Andrew Gilleland, and became a top deputy to Bracken.
Bracken: Retiring after 40 years
Christ: Taking reins at Lexus in U.S.
In his new role as vice president and general manager, Christ will oversee all of Lexus' U.S. automotive operations, including sales, marketing, customer service and dealer operations, reporting to Bill Fay, senior vice president of automotive operations.
Among his big challenges will be the launch of the UX subcompact crossover, arriving later this year. Lexus sees the vehicle as critical to attracting younger buyers to the brand in the face of competition from lower-priced entry-level vehicles from German brands.
Bracken, who joined Toyota in 1978, spent much of his career in California and the Western region. He was among the thousands of Toyota employees who relocated from Southern California to Texas as part of a massive headquarters move and reorganization of Toyota Motor North America, announced in 2014.
Ross: New sales operations VP
During his tenure at Lexus, the luxury brand worked to introduce bolder, more performance-oriented styling to its vehicles, including models such as the LC sport coupe and the LS premium luxury sedan. Bracken also brought the brand back to racing with the RC-F GT3 and launched Lexus Plus, a dealer-driven alternative to retailing, Toyota said in a statement.
Dejuan Ross will replace Christ as vice president of sales operations at Lexus. Ross joined Toyota in 1995. He will be leaving his role as general manager of Toyota's Chicago Region.