Ben Schlimme

Ben Schlimme is the Executive Program Manager with Toyota Motor North America, R&D Division.  There he leads a team in Powertrain and Regulation Department overseeing Advanced Planning & Research.

Mr. Schlimme’s responsibilities include development of Toyota’s North American long term Powertrain Strategy as well as overseeing powertrain research.

Mr. Schlimme began his career at Toyota in 1991, when he joined Toyota Motor Sales in their Finance Division responsible for daily cash management.  From there he has held various positions including the launch of Lexus’s Certified Used Car Program, Lexus Product Planning and Toyota Truck Product Planning.  In 1997 Mr. Schlimme joined Toyota Technical Center to support the development of the first V8 truck engine.  In this role he was responsible for ensuring the calibration and tuning met North American market needs.  In 2003 he was promoted to lead their Powertrain Planning function which he grew into to the development of Advanced Planning & Research Department in 2013.

Over the past year Mr. Schlimme relocated his family to North Dallas, coinciding with Toyota corporate headquarters relocation.  Having spent the past 28-years in Southern California, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in International Finance from the University of Southern California, the change from the beaches of Southern California to the expansiveness of Dallas has been “a refreshing change”.