TORRANCE, Calif. — Toyota Financial Services announced three major senior executive moves earlier this week, in additional to naming a new chief information officer.

All changes are slated to take effect July 28.

After nine years of leading the company's finance and insurance sales performance, Dave Pelliccioni, senior vice president of sales and marketing, is appointed to the new position of senior vice president and chief administrative officer. 

In this new capacity, Pelliccioni will provide oversight and leadership for business technology solutions, legal, human resources and corporate planning.

He joined Toyota in 1988 as national advertising manager. In 1999, he came to TFS and held the positions of vice president of field operations and vice president of marketing. 

In another move, Mike Groff, group vice president of operations and corporate planning, is appointed group vice president of sales, product and marketing.

In this new role, TFS' three regional sales offices, all sales and product operations, and the marketing group will report to him.

Groff joined Toyota in 1983 and has since held a number of senior leadership positions, including vice president roles overseeing the company's three customer call centers, Commercial Finance and regional management responsibility of TFS financing operations in Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela. 

Officials also noted that he successfully led the Commercial Finance, International, CSC Operations and strategic planning areas,

Continuing on, Mike Wells, vice president of marketing, product development and Toyota Financial Savings Bank, is promoted to the new role of group vice president, operations, Commercial Finance, International and TFSB. 

He returned to TFS last year after holding key leadership roles with both the Toyota and Lexus divisions, executives noted.

Wells joined Toyota in 1986 and held numerous positions, including corporate manager and dean of dealer education and development for the University of Toyota, in addition to vice president of the San Francisco region, where he directed sales, service, parts and customer relations activities of the region's 61 northern California-based dealerships.

Finally, TFS announced the hiring of Mark Sarago as vice president and chief information officer. Sarago most recently served as CIO for Citi Residential Lending. Prior positions also include CIO for ACC Capitol Holding and director of business development at Tavant Technologies.

Sarago will be responsible for leading the strategic development and implementation of the company's technology infrastructure, capabilities and organization.

"The CIO position is one that balances both the technological expertise needed for the IT complexities of a company like TFS with strong leadership and a strategic vision for the business' needs," explained Pelliccioni, the newly appointed senior vice president and chief administrative officer.

"We are very pleased to have found that combination in Mark, and we look forward to adding his expertise and business acumen to our management team," he added.

Sarago will report to Pelliccioni. 

"Leading the business technology solutions department at Toyota Financial Services is an opportunity to build on its highly respected success of providing exceptional customer service and to ensure its continued status as a leader in the financial industry. I am sincerely honored to be working with such an exceptional and talented team," said Sarago.

Sarago brings 27 years of experience in all phases of IT leadership, having held significant leadership roles in companies ranging from start-ups to large corporations, officials concluded.