Toyota Motor Corporation has announced that Akio Toyoda, who has been at the helm of management for more than 13 years, will assume the position of chairman with representative rights on April 1.

Executive Officer Tsuneharu Sato will succeed him as president.

This personnel was announced by Toyota Motor Corporation on the 26th.



Mr. Toyoda is 66 years old.



He is the grandson of Kiichiro Toyoda, who founded "Toyota Motor Co., Ltd.", the predecessor of Toyota. After joining Toyota Motor Corporation in 1984, he served as vice president, etc., and has been president since June 2009 for 13 years from the founding family. I have been in charge of management.



From the very beginning of my appointment as president, I faced a severe business environment, including the deterioration of the global economy due to the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, the large-scale recall problem in the United States, and the Great East Japan Earthquake. I have been working on improving it.



In addition, with a sense of crisis that the automobile industry is facing a once-in-a-century transformation, we are working to create partnerships in order to respond to next-generation technologies called "CASE," such as communications, self-driving cars, and electric vehicles. We actively pursued partnerships with other companies.



It is expected that President Toyoda will continue to be responsible for management as chairman with the right to represent the company.

On the other hand, Tsuneharu Sato (53), Executive Officer, will be appointed as the successor president.



Mr. Sato joined Toyota Motor Corporation in 1992 and is currently serving as an executive officer after working as the head of the in-house company Lexus International.

President Toyoda press conference via emergency online broadcast

President Akio Toyoda said in an online distribution, "The trigger for this change is the retirement of Chairman Uchiyamada, and in order to further promote new reforms, I believe that it is best for me to become chairman and support the new president. I have come to this decision,” he said.



After that, Mr. Sato, who succeeded him, said, "I have worked hard at the car manufacturing site to acquire Toyota's ideas, techniques, and behavior. I am attractive just because I am young, and I will promote reform in an era when I do not know the correct answer. In order to move forward, it is necessary for top management to continue to stand on the front lines, and physical strength, energy, and passion are essential for this."