Lexus US chief defects to Ford

The US head of Toyota's luxury Lexus brand has abandoned the company for Ford Motor in the third high-level defection from the Japanese carmaker to a Detroit rival in two months.

Jim Farley, who worked for nearly two decades at Toyota and Lexus, will join Ford in a new job as global head of marketing and communications, reporting directly to Alan Mulally, the US carmaker's chief executive.

Last month, Jim Press, head of Toyota's North American operations, was lured by Chrysler's new management to become its president and vice-chairman, taking 37 years of experience at the Japanese carmaker with him.

Deborah Wahl Meyer, formerly a top marketing executive for Lexus, joined Chrysler in August.

Ford's poaching of Mr Farley, 45, a founder of Toyota's Scion youth brand, is a significant coup for the company as it tries to halt the loss of US market share to Asian competitors and co-ordinate its global operations.

It is a setback for Toyota's US arm, which has now lost two of its senior executives most responsible for putting an American face on the Japanese carmaker in its biggest market.

Detroit's poaching of top Toyota talent marks a new chapter for the US's three troubled domestic carmakers, which are seeking to replicate their Japanese rival's efficiency as they try to return to profitability.

Ford, General Motors and Chrysler have traditionally made senior appointments in-house or hired from across town, only recently recruiting from non-US carmakers. Mr Mulally, who himself joined Ford from Boeing last year, is an admirer of Toyota.

Mr Mulally told the Financial Times on Thursday that Mr Farley's duties would include "sharing the Ford story and continuing to help us define and develop the cars and trucks people want", working with Derrick Kuzak, global product development head.

Toyota has replaced Ford as the second-largest carmaker in the US this year, selling 1.79m vehicles to the 1.76m sold by Ford and its foreign premium brands in January to September, according to consultancy JD Power. Toyota's market share was 16.2 per cent, compared with the Ford brands' 16 per cent.

Ford's market share continues to drop, and in spite of well-reviewed recent launches it has struggled to devise effective advertising campaigns and communicate the vaunted improvements in its cars to consumers.

Ford's shares rose 6.4 per cent to close at $8.76 in New York on Thursday.