Howett joined
Toyota in the late 1970s as a team coordinator for
Brussels-based
Toyota Team Europe, run by former
Toyota F1 boss
Ove Andersson. Moving back to
England in 1980, he worked for Toyota in after-sales service. In 1991, he returned to
Belgium, and worked his way up to be Vice President for
Toyota/
Lexus sales and marketing. In early 2003, Howett moved to
Cologne,
Germany, where he was made President of
Toyota Motorsport, a position he has maintained until June 2010. After a start to the
2007 season that saw Toyota maintain 5th in the constructors' standings after the first three races, Howett said the team were looking to chase 3rd placed
BMW Sauber and break away from the front of the midfield bunch of teams, which would go a step further to fulfilling their pre-season ambitions. In 2009 Toyota announced that it would no longer be involved in Formula 1 racing and this also meant that he could no longer be deputy chair of
Formula one Teams Association (FOTA). In 2010 Howett was replaced as president by Executive Vice President
Yoshiaki Kinoshita and his role changed to being an adviser. ==References==