Former Mazda exec Eric Johnston joins Jaguar Land Rover
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Johnston, vice president of governance at Mazda North America, has been named the western region head of Jaguar Land Rover's U.S. dealer network. |
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LOS ANGELES -- One of Mazda Motor Corp.'s top executives has taken a position at Jaguar Land Rover after more than 20 years with the Japanese automaker.
Eric Johnston, vice president of governance at Mazda North American Operations, has been named the western region head of Jaguar Land Rover's U.S. dealer network.
Johnston, 45 was one of 107 Mazda employees in the United States who accepted voluntary buyout packages offered to the company's 701 U.S. workers in March, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. Those employees left Mazda on July 2.
A Mazda spokesman confirmed that Johnston no longer was with Mazda, but declined to elaborate.
Johnston joined Mazda in 1990 as a trainee. Over the next 22 years, he rose in the organization to hold a variety of executive-level positions overseeing sales, marketing, and customer service and parts operations at Mazda.
In 2010, as Mazda's U.S. sales vice president, Johnston was named an Automotive News All-Star for his strategy to help boost Mazda's residuals by shunning big cash incentives, keeping inventories lean and limiting fleet sales.
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