The executive chairperson of Toyota South Africa Motors Dr Johan van Zyl 63, has died due to Coronavirus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Quoting a spokesperson Carmag reported that he died of Covid-19 complications, at a Pretoria hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Van Zyl, who was born in Springs in Gauteng in June 1958, had a long career with the auto manufacturer – having started at Toyota South Africa Motors in 1993 as the director for the sales and dealer network, Carmag reported.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n He was appointed CEO of Toyota SA in 2003. A decade later, he was promoted to become CEO of Toyota in Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In recent years, he served as managing officer of Toyota Motor Corporation and in 2015 he was appointed CEO of Toyota Motor Europe – until his retirement in early 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Affectionately known as “The Doc”, van Zyl was described as having an “uncanny sense” of knowing what consumers want, Toyota SA said in a statement on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “But for all his successes in the corporate world, what ‘The Doc’ will be remembered for the most was his humanity – his ability to remember the name of each and every person he came into contact with, his self-deprecating sense of humour that immediately put everyone at ease, and his comprehensive wealth of general knowledge,” the statement read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Current CEO of Toyota SA, Andrew Kirby said that van Zyl was a “much loved and admired leader”, who would be remembered for his leadership and success of the company and Toyota Motor Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “He was also an amazing human being \u2013 for those of us who were fortunate to work closely with Johan, we will always remember him as an aspiring mentor, who had a story to share on any topic and who truly cared about people. His tireless efforts for our company, industry and country will be sorely missed.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a separate statement, automotive business council naamsa also paid tribute to van Zyl. He had served as naamsa president for two consecutive terms between 2005 to 2008 and again in 2013.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The executive chairperson of Toyota South Africa Motors Dr Johan van Zyl 63, has died due to Coronavirus. Quoting a spokesperson Carmag reported that he died of Covid-19 complications, at a Pretoria hospital. Van Zyl, who was born in Springs in Gauteng in June 1958, had a long career with the auto manufacturer – having […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[7019,9,6204],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Dr-Johan-van-Zyl.jpg?fit=1024%2C747&ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8893,"url":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/?p=8893","url_meta":{"origin":11571,"position":0},"title":"Clarence Mini, activist","date":"May 13, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Dr. Clarence Mazwangwandile Mini \u2011 a South African doctor, anti-apartheid activist, freedom fighter and human rights activist \u2013 died from Covid-19\u00a0 on 12 May 2020. 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