CBJ — Jim Lentz, the CEO of Toyota in North America, has announced he will be stepping down after nearly four decades with the company.

The 64-year-old Lentz will office retire at the start of April, 2020. The current COO, Ted Ogawa will take over as top executive at that time.

Lentz is perhaps best remembered in the public realm for his congressional committee testimony about allegations Toyota vehicles accelerated without warning.  The company was fined $50 million for being too slow to report safety problems to U.S. regulators.

Lentz began his automotive career at Ford in 1978 before joining Toyota in 1982 and working his way up through the sales division.

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