Toyota Motor Corporation has announced that effective April 1, it will appoint operating officer Koji Sato as its new president and Akio Toyoda as its new chairman after more than 13 years of presidency.
The moves were triggered at an extraordinary meeting of the company’s board of directors on January 26 by the resignation of former chairman Takeshi Uchimayada.
Toyoda says he thought that the best way to further Toyota’s transformation would be for him to become chairman in support of a new president, and this led to today’s decision.
He thanked chairman Uchiyamada for supporting his presidency in all imaginable ways.
Toyoda says Sato was chosen for the presidency because he has worked hard in the workplaces of car-making to embrace Toyota’s philosophy, techniques, and practices. Another reason is that he loves cars.
“Those are exactly the traits I would want whoever stands at the top of Toyota to embody,” Toyoda says.
He also notes that the new team under upcoming President Sato has a mission to transform Toyota into a mobility company.
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