Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) announced today that it intends to implement changes to its executive structure effective April 1, 2023, and changes to its Board of Directors effective the date of its 119th Ordinary General Shareholders' Meeting as described below.
Koji Sato is pretty passionate for sports cars as well, but he isnāt as colorful/lively as Akio. He played a huge part in the LC500 and has been in charge of GR/Lexus for some time now.
Heās currently restoring a AE86 as well, so thatās good. Lol.
feel free to lock my OT post on this, I presumed it was more OT since it wasn't specifically GR Corolla material and so I didn't even think to look in other forums.
reading the article I did this morning, and with some liberal between the lines reading, he was 'stepped down' because he didn't focus heavily enough on the EV market.
Oh damn that's crazy! We no longer get to say the CEO is a racecar driver But glad Koji Sato is the replacement! I trust he'll keep Akio's passion for good driving cars alive
Akio Toyoda will step down as the Japanese giant struggles to meet the shift to electric vehicles.
www.reuters.com
seems like this wasn't a shock, as much as the timing of it is.
it'll be interesting to see how this affects the brand, since this was pushed from Akio directly, and the reason for the move was because there wasn't enough focus on EV.
There has always been pressure to change CEOs because Akio has been slow to adopt EVs. Transitioning your products to EVs is a long process and maybe Akio being at 66 yrs old doesnāt feel like heās the right fit.
This will probably be the end of an era for Toyota, he brought Toyota out of the boring appliance era of the 2000s. Watch hybrids take the priority in the lineup now.....
Sometimes itās just as simple as changing public perception of the companyās CEO. New CEO has been under Akio for a while. Highly doubt heās going to go 180 on the company. Keep in mind Akio is still on the board. People/media are generally over sensitive with these types of changes.
oil companies don't want to kill of hydrogen. they're all aboard that train, or the synthetic fuel train, whichever.
people who have fully invested themselves in BEV are the only ones who want to see other emerging technology (or ones that aren't fully BEV) die.
rationally, if you look at the Toyota way of doing PHEV, it's the quickest way to transition the highest volume of cars away from pure gasoline in the quickest timeframe. the average mileage a person drives in a day is less than 40 miles, so make a PHEV that can do 40 miles on EV only.
F150 Lightning = 100kWh battery
Lucid Air = 120kWh battery
Tesla MY = 80kWh battery
Tesla M3 = 50-80kWh battery (depending on trim and year)
Rav4 Prime = 20kWh battery
Prius Prime = 10kWh battery
10 people driving 40 miles on electric is better than 9 people driving 40 miles on gas and one guy driving 40 miles on battery.
5 people driving 40 miles on electric and 5 people driving 40 miles on gas is better than 9 people driving 40 miles on gas and one guy driving 40 miles on battery.
production for LI is ramping as quickly as possible, so it may be an abundant resource, but it is limited by tech, so the quickest way to get these cars in the hands of drivers is to go with the most practical approach. Toyota was doing that and gets grinded for doing it. people who are real environmentalists should be pissed.
ugh, sorry, mods delete if necessary, I just feel like I'm taking crazy pills when I start thinking about this stuff.
Akio being the Chairman of the Board might turn out better. As CEO, he was able to greenlight projects, but still had to find budget for his little pet projects. As Chairman, he has the opportunity to sway the directors and investors to let the CEO have a bigger budget for the fun stuff.
Yeah if anything this means cool stuff could happen more often.
Recent reports for example were saying the GR86 is about to become a fully homegrown product. While skeptical at first because these collabs were a way to save money on projects, this actually seems more likely to me now.
Most of Akioās projects in the beginning with Gazoo Racing, LFA, FRS and so on were all done with some pushback from higher ups. Most of these things Akio found short cuts in developing.
A lot of people are missing the major power shift that's happening. Akio didn't just bow out. He moved up to chairman of the board. Not only that he replaced his position with his righthand man. This is a power move. Essentially giving him more power to do what he wants without being held back by old board members.
If you guys have time to watch, Kamata-San (one of, if not the, most recognizable AE86 figures/tuners/restorers) had a little meeting with Koji Sato and some of the GR team.
Sato-San talks about restoration parts they should release for the AE86 Corolla and some troubles he had with his own build.
Watch Toyota make a new even more desirable car before people have gotten over the hype and fear of missing out on this one and then everyone who was mad about not getting the GRC at a good price will be able to after all ... but will want the new car instead
Speaking of Mitsubishi, their lineup of vehicles right now in the Asia Pacific region is so tiny that the only base car they have that can be converted into an AP4 rally car is a freaking MPV lol
He will stay on as chairman, while chief branding officer and Gazoo Racing president Koji Sato will step up to the president and CEO role.
www.roadandtrack.com
This is is terrible News for enthusiasts! Akio was the only CEO that was driving innovations to bringing traditional automotive fun into the future! Akio understood drivers and enthusiasts. This may possibly be the end of the manual transmission electric car, the hydrogen powered sports car, etc. I am so disappointed in his leaving.
Thank you Mr. Toyoda for all your efforts, you will sorely be missed And not forgotten!