Toyota Material Handling North America Announces Senior Leadership Team Following Integration

Columbus, IN (April 7, 2025)- Toyota Material Handling North America (TMHNA), announces the five senior executives who will lead the organization’s next chapter, following the formal integration of Toyota Material Handling and The Raymond Corporation under the unified TMHNA name.

The integration, finalized on April 1, unifies two industry-leading brands under the TMHNA banner, enhancing the company’s ability to deliver comprehensive material handling solutions across North America. Both the Toyota and Raymond brands will maintain their unique identities, ensuring continuity and strengthening customer relationships.

Brett Wood will continue to serve as TMHNA’s President & CEO, in addition to his current role as Senior Executive Officer for TMHNA’s parent company, Toyota Industries Corporation (TICO).

“This is a historic day for our company, customers, dealers, and associates,” Wood said. “This milestone marks a significant step in TMHNA’s long-term strategy to enhance operational efficiency and innovation. Our vision is to continue to lead the material handling industry with solutions for our customers’ evolving challenges. This integration gives us the opportunity to leverage the best people, processes, and products into one unified organization for the benefit of our customers.”

These enhancements will improve efficiency, expand production capacity, and reinforce the TMHNA’s commitment to kaizen – or continuous improvement. Alongside Wood, TMHNA’s senior leadership team includes:

• Michael Field, who served as President & CEO of The Raymond Corporation prior to the integration, will now be TMHNA’s Chief Operations Officer. Field, who has over 30 years of experience managing technology companies, will be responsible for engineering, aftermarket, energy storage solutions, automation, telematics, IT, strategic alliances, government affairs, and product planning for both the Toyota and Raymond brands.  

“By integrating our resources, we’ll accelerate technology and product investments, bringing best-in-class solutions to market faster and driving growth through innovation,” Field said. “We collaborate with our customers to deeply understand wants, needs, and business challenges to deliver solutions that solve real-world problems.”

• Sam Coles, a native of England, has been appointed as TMHNA’s Chief Sales & Marketing Officer, where he will be responsible for sales, marketing, and pricing for both the Raymond and Toyota brands in North America. Coles has over 35 years of experience in the material handling industry with BT Industries and Toyota, and most recently spent four years as the President of Toyota Material Handling International (TMHI) in Sweden. Coles also previously spent seven years as the Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Toyota Material Handling Europe.

“During my time with Toyota, I have traveled the world working with great people, and I feel extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to join this team in North America,” Coles said. “This integration will help us better serve and manage our customer relationships across brands and ensure that their needs always come first.

• Tony Miller becomes TMHNA’s Chief Supply Officer, transitioning out of his most recent role as Toyota Material Handling’s Senior Vice President of Operations, Engineering & Strategic Planning. Miller, who has been with Toyota since 1996 and has over 25 years of experience in engineering and manufacturing, will oversee operations for all TMHNA manufacturing plants, including manufacturing, production engineering, production control, procurement, quality, warranty, and Toyota Production System (TPS) development office.

“Manufacturing excellence isn’t just part of our history – it’s the foundation of who we are,” Miller said. “There is a Japanese word – Monozukuri – that perfectly describes my aspiration for our team. Translated, it means ‘manufacturing with pride, skill, and dedication in the pursuit of innovation and perfection’. This will drive us to relentlessly focus on elevating our manufacturing excellence at every one of our plants.”

• Mark Taggart, who most recently served as TMHNA’s Chief Financial Officer and the President of Raylease, has been promoted to TMHNA Chief Administration Officer. Taggart will lead TMHNA’s finance, human resources, and legal teams. After beginning his career with Toyota in 1996, Taggart played a key role in establishing Toyota Financial Savings Bank (TFSB) and has held multiple executive roles, including five years as the President & CEO of Toyota Industries Commercial Finance.

“Our new TMHNA vision is to be the most innovative, reliable, and trusted partner for material handling and logistics. And our new TMHNA mission is to elevate our people, customers, and communities,” Taggart said. “Every decision we make will be driven by helping our dealers and customers succeed and building sustainable success for decades to come."

This integration is rooted in growth, not consolidation. TMHNA is committed to investing in its workforce – which includes over 16,000 associates – and facilities to drive innovation and better serve its customers. Recently, the company has invested $50 million in facility upgrades and advanced equipment at its plants in Greene, New York, and Muscatine, Iowa.

Additionally, in 2024, Toyota announced the investment of nearly $100 million to build a new 295,000-square-foot factory at its North American headquarters in Columbus, Indiana. This state-of-the-art factory, set to open in 2026, will produce electric material handling equipment to help reduce product lead times, add manufacturing flexibility, and support the company’s long-term sustainability goals.

Today, one in three forklifts sold in North America is either a Toyota or Raymond product, a testament to the company’s industry leadership.

“I couldn’t be more excited about the people we have in place to lead our new organization,” Wood said. “All four of these leaders are the very best at what they do, and they are driven by our foundational values of continuous improvement and respect for people. Most importantly, our entire Toyota team will always do what is best for our customers, dealers, and associates. I am confident that our incredible team will help elevate TMHNA to new heights.”

Learn more about the Toyota Material Handling North America leadership team here.

About Toyota Material Handling

Toyota Material Handling offers material handling products and solutions, including forklifts, reach trucks, order pickers, pallet jacks, container handlers, automated guided vehicles, and tow tractors, along with aerial work platforms, fleet management services, and advanced automation engineering and design. Toyota’s commitment to quality, reliability and customer satisfaction, the hallmark of the Toyota Production System, extends throughout more than 230 locations across North America. With access to an industry-leading lineup of material handling products, Toyota dealers are uniquely positioned to help solve wide-ranging challenges in warehousing and distribution. Built for every application, Toyota can provide the most complete set of solutions for material handling, automation, energy, advanced logistics, and warehouse optimization. For more information or to learn more, visit ToyotaForklift.com.