Lithia & Driveway has hired the former president and CEO of Toyota Financial Services, Scott Cooke, as an operations president.

In a news release Tuesday, Lithia said Cooke will head up performance across the Southeastern and South Central store operations, Driveway Finance Corp. and F&I operations.

“Scott is a perfect cultural fit and proven leader with deep operational expertise, a customer-first mindset, and an impressive track record of delivering results,” Lithia president and CEO Bryan DeBoer said in a news release.

“As we continue executing our strategy, Scott’s leadership will help accelerate performance across our platform while advancing our mission of Growth Powered by People,” DeBoer said. “His experience building high-performing teams and creating scalable operational excellence makes him an outstanding addition to our executive leadership team.”

Cooke joins fellow Lithia operations presidents Mike Cavanaugh, Bryan Osterhout (who heads up the Western region and Neil Williamson (who heads up the U.K.) on Lithia’s senior operations leadership team.

The hiring coincides with the upcoming retirement of Driveway Finance Corp. leader Chuck Lietz next year.

“We are grateful for Chuck’s many contributions to Lithia & Driveway and the impact he has had on our people, culture, and performance,” DeBoer said.

“His leadership has been nothing short of remarkable helping build a strong foundation for continued growth, and we look forward to culminating his illustrious career together over the next few quarters and his retirement.”