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Toyota replaces Akio Toyoda as president and CEO


Toyota has replaced third generation CEO Akio Toyoda

Toyota has replaced third-generation CEO Akio Toyoda.

Toyota appointed Koji Sato as Chairman and CEO on Thursday, in a surprise reshuffle that saw third-generation chief executive Akio Toyoda step aside to become chairman of the board. management of the world’s best-selling automaker.

The Japanese automaker said Sato, 53, will also become chief executive officer when the changes to the operating structure take effect on April 1.

Sato — formerly brand manager and president of Toyota’s luxury Lexus brand — is taking the helm at a time of great upheaval for the industry, with electric vehicles now at the center.

He was the same age as Toyoda in 2009 when he became the company’s youngest chairman, following the global financial crisis.

“He has youth and like-minded colleagues,” Toyoda told reporters. I expect this team to push through the limits that I can’t cross.”

“To drive change in an era where the future is unpredictable, top management must continue to be on the front lines. To do that, endurance, drive, and passion are impossible. lack.”

Toyoda, 66, is the grandson of company founder Kiichiro Toyoda. His father, Shoichiro Toyoda, also headed Toyota in the 1980s and 1990s.

He is known as a charismatic leader, having led the team through the quality control scandal that prompted him to apologize to the US Congress and the supply chain chaos caused by the earthquake and tsunami in 2015. 2011 in Japan.

More recently, he has worked to bolster Toyota’s ambitions in the vital electric vehicle sector.

The company has pioneered hybrid vehicles, but some critics say the shift to battery-powered engines has been too slow even as demand for low-emissions cars soars.

In December 2021, Toyota raised its electric vehicle sales target to 75% and said it plans to launch 30 battery-electric models by the beginning of the decade.

‘I love making cars’

Sato has worked for Toyota since graduating with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1992.

“I’m an engineer and have been with car development for a long time. I love building cars,” says Sato.

Toyoda will replace Takeshi Uchiyamada, 76, as chairman of the board. Uchiyamada was the chief engineer of the team that developed the hugely popular Prius, the world’s first mass-produced hybrid car.

Born in the city of Nagoya, where Toyota’s headquarters are located, since childhood, Toyoda wanted to be a taxi driver.

He is a motorsport enthusiast and has even entered races on his own — using the pseudonym “Morizo”, so as not to draw attention from his day job as a racing driver. managing director.

Although Toyodas owns only a small percentage of Toyota’s shares, some of the subsidiaries are run by extended family members in a complex cross-ownership system.

In November, Toyota left its annual net profit forecast unchanged as a weaker yen offset global chip shortages and supply chain disruptions that have repeatedly forced it to cut production targets.

Semiconductors are an essential component of modern cars, and the pandemic-induced chip drought has rattled Toyota and its rivals around the world.

But in January, it set a production target for 2023 of 10.6 million vehicles from the Toyota and Lexus brands — higher than in recent years, including 9.05 million in pre-pandemic 2019 .

However, it warns that there is a risk of output falling by as much as 10% due to continued spare parts shortages.

© 2023 AFP

quote: Toyota replaces Akio Toyoda as president and CEO (2023, January 26) get January 26, 2023 from https://techxplore.com/news/2023-01-toyota-akio-toyoda-ceo.html

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