TOKYO — Steve St. Angelo, the American production guru who rose through the ranks at Toyota Motor Corp. to become CEO of its Latin American and Caribbean operations, is stepping down.

Toyota announced the move March 1 as part of a wider companywide personnel shuffle.

St. Angelo's departure is effective April 1. Succeeding him will be Masahiro Inoue, who currently is St. Angelo's deputy, the company said in a statement.

In a separate email, St. Angelo said he will be retiring from Toyota and returning to the U.S.