• by Tanya Gazdik , March 22, 2024

Lexus is elevating Cynthia Tenhouse to vice president of marketing at the Toyota luxury brand effective March 25, according to a company spokesperson.

She replaces Vinay Shahani who left the company in January to become Nissan North America’s senior vice president, U.S. marketing and sales.

Tenhouse began her career with Toyota North America in 1996. She has worked in many different parts of the company including Toyota customer relations, Toyota Motor insurance services, North American parts operations, Toyota Motor Corp. overseas marketing and Lexus field operations.

Most recently she was vice president, Lexus guest experience, overseeing the Lexus customer service team, where she was responsible for the overall customer journey and guest experience, voice of the customer analytics, parts and services for dealers and contact center operations for both Toyota and Lexus. She was appointed to that role in December 2020.

During her time as vice president of Toyota vehicle marketing and communications, she was responsible for product lifecycle management, brand and product marketing strategies; creative asset production, product and sales training and Toyota’s dealer advertising strategy and assets.  

Tenhouse also served as the general manager of Lexus product and consumer marketing where she was responsible for product lifecycle management; marketing strategy; advertising creative; and the digital consumer experience. 

She also served as general manager of Lexus International Strategic Communications, overseeing global marketing and PR communication strategy to expand and strengthen the Lexus brand around the world.  

During two years in Tokyo, Tenhouse helped lead the creation of the global Lexus brand. Nearly half of her career was spent in the field supporting Lexus dealers, where she served as the assistant general manager in Lexus central before returning to Toyota headquarters in 2017.  

Tenhouse has said she is passionate about developing talent within the organization. She is a champion of leading change to support Toyota’s evolution into a mobility company. Tenhouse is an active member of many of Toyota’s Business Partnering Groups, which help foster diversity and inclusion and develop diverse talent.