Toyota said yesterday it would appoint a foreigner to the post of executive vice president and promote a woman into its top ranks, both firsts for the Japanese firm in its nearly 80-year history. The world's biggest automaker said the moves, part of a wider shuffle, were aimed at promoting diversity among its top management. The pair will join a handful of foreign-born executives in top posts at Japanese firms. Didier Leroy, 57, a Frenchman who now heads Toyota's European business and formerly worked for Renault, will become an executive vice president as of April 1, the company said, the first non-Japanese to take the post. The promotion will put Leroy in a group of six vice presidents below chief executive Akio Toyoda. American Julie Hamp, 55, Toyota's North America group vice president, will become the company's first female managing officer, the automaker said.