Toyota Vietnam names first Vietnamese-born president

By Thanh Nhan January 3, 2026 | 03:55 pm PT

Toyota Vietnam has appointed Tien Quoc Hao, a Vietnamese-born Canadian, as its new president starting this month, marking the first time the Japanese joint venture has been led by a senior executive of Vietnamese origin.

In the past, the president’s role at Toyota Vietnam attracted little attention because it carried limited operational responsibility. From this year, however, the position is expected to take on a more substantive function.

Tien Quoc Hao, president of Toyota Vietnam. Photo courtesy of Toyota Motor Asia Pacific

"With Hao’s appointment, Toyota Vietnam will have additional leadership support, particularly in promoting and overseeing investment projects related to the plant," a person familiar with the matter told VnExpress.

"Meanwhile, the CEO will continue to run most business operations and set strategic direction."

Hao is currently Toyota’s regional vice CEO for Asia, vice CEO in charge of business, finance and sales at Toyota Motor Corporation, and president of Toyota Motor Asia Pacific (based in Singapore). At the same time, he also serves as CEO of Toyota Financial Services Asia.

Hao was born in HCMC to a middle-class family, according to Autonews. In 1979, he left Vietnam and later settled in Canada.

He joined Toyota Canada in 1999. Over the course of his career, he has held numerous senior leadership roles in sales and marketing for Toyota and Lexus across regions including North America, Japan, China and Asia.

Hao, over the past two years, has frequently returned to Vietnam, mainly to take part in activities related to carbon neutrality and vehicle electrification at Toyota Vietnam.

The Japanese automaker currently leads the Vietnamese market in terms of the number of products and sales of hybrid vehicles.

This month Toyota Vietnam also appointed Osamu Hirata as CEO, replacing Nakano Keita upon the completion of his term.

Before taking on the new role, Hirata served as group vice president in charge of Toyota and Lexus sales operations in North America until 2023. In 2024, he was appointed head of the Sales Operations and Planning Division at Toyota Motor Corporation.

The two new senior executives begin their terms as Toyota Vietnam has just closed 2025 with sales of 71,954 vehicles, up about 8% from 2024.

Lexus, Toyota’s subsidiary brand, sold 2,252 vehicles, up 45% from 2024. These sales placed the Japanese automaker second in the market, behind homegrown electric vehicle producer VinFast.

In the hybrid segment alone, Toyota sold 8,474 vehicles, up 58% from 2024.