Toyota Motor Corporation CEO and president Akio Toyoda, who championed the revival of Gazoo Racing, is poised to step down this April.
The 66-year-old businessman is the grandson of Toyota’s founder, Kiichiro Toyoda. He made this sudden announcement following news that Toyoda will become the Japanese automaker’s new chairman of the board of directors. Koji Sato, who is also Toyota’s Chief Branding Officer, is set to take over the CEO reins.
This announcement did ruffle a few feathers. Enthusiasts were one such demographic who were disappointed, as Toyoda was the man who championed bringing back exciting cars to the mass market. This culminated in Gazoo Racing cars like the GR Yaris and fifth-generation Supra.
His time in office wasn’t the most smooth sailing. But, through it all, he managed to position Toyota in an advantageous spot come the turn of the new decade.
Motorsports for Toyota has never been greater too, and the Japanese firm had their work cut out for them participating in events like the Nürburgring 24 Hours race and FIA World Rally Championship. Toyoda even got into a race suit on occasion, racing under his racing pseudonym Morizo, with his most recent outing being a Toyota sustainable endurance race.
On the flip side, Toyoda’s reluctance towards investing in battery electric strategies was met with resistance from environmental shareholders. Some were critical of Toyota for being slow to innovate.
In a world where other manufacturers are pushing out EVs by the dozen, Toyoda lamented that selling EVs is not the only way forward in creating a carbon-neutral society, hence Toyota’s push and innovations for alternatives such as hydrogen and hybrid technologies. He wants to give customers the freedom to choose.
With Koji Sato now in the hot seat, the Toyota Motor Corporation may finally meet its yin-yang balance. Lexus has already begun to shift its priorities towards electrification with the Lexus Electrified strategy, which aims to create a full battery EV (BEV) lineup by 2030, and turn into manufacturing 100% EVs by 2035.
Don’t you worry enthusiasts, Sato is also a car enthusiast at heart, and he is the current chairperson of the Gazoo Racing sub-brand. Suffice to say, Toyota will be in good hands.
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