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TOKYO—
Motor Corp. Chief Executive
Akio Toyoda,
a scion of the founding family who has led the company since 2009, will step down from his current roles and become chairman in April, Toyota said Thursday.
Chief Branding Officer
Koji Sato,
a 53-year-old executive who has led Toyota’s luxury Lexus division since 2020, will become president and chief executive in April, the company said.
Takeshi Uchiyamada,
Toyota’s chairman, will step down from that post.
“To advance change at Toyota, I have reached the decision that it is best for me to support a new president while I become chairman,” Mr. Toyoda said.
The management switch comes as Toyota navigates the transition in the auto industry toward electric vehicles. Mr. Toyoda has staked out an unusual position in the industry by questioning whether EVs should be pursued exclusively, in contrast to auto makers that have set dates by which their lineups will be 100% EV.
Mr. Toyoda has pointed to potential downsides to EVs such as the lack of charging infrastructure in some countries and the vehicles’ reliance on electricity that may be produced from carbon-emitting sources. He has said Toyota intends to offer customers a mix of options including hybrid gas-electric vehicles.
Mr. Sato’s background is in mechanical engineering. Since joining Toyota in 1992 shortly after graduating from Waseda University, he has worked on developing vehicles including Toyota’s popular Corolla sedan. “I want to be a president who continues to make cars,” Mr. Sato said Thursday.
To achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 means making more than EVs, Mr. Sato said. “We have to take a 360-degree approach,” he said.
Under Mr. Toyoda’s watch, the car maker significantly stepped up its investment in EVs. It said in 2021 it aimed to sell 3.5 million EVs a year by 2030. Mr. Toyoda said earlier in January that Toyota was looking at rolling out a new manufacturing platform designed specifically for EVs.
Mr. Toyoda, 66, said that after more than 13 years on the job, it was time to pass the baton to a younger executive.
“No matter where I go, I am always a car guy. I think I’ve been able to drive change at Toyota precisely because I’m a car guy. But I can’t go beyond being a car guy. That is my limit,” said Mr. Toyoda. He is the grandson of Kiichiro Toyoda, who brought the Toyoda family business into auto making before World War II.
Mr. Toyoda said Mr. Sato was also a car lover and could use teamwork to build Toyota’s business. “The new team can do things that I can’t do. The next generation will create the future,” Mr. Toyoda said.
Under Mr. Toyoda, the car maker overcame a crisis in 2009-10 involving unintended acceleration and other problems attributed to its cars, which led Toyota to recall millions of vehicles. He testified before U.S. Congress in 2010, helping to calm the fury.
Revenue and profit have steadily increased under his leadership, and Toyota has cemented its spot as Japan’s most valuable company by market capitalization.
In 2020, Toyota overtook Volkswagen AG to become the world’s top-selling auto maker, the first time the Japanese company took the top spot in five years. It took No. 1 position again in 2021. Also in 2021, Toyota became the bestselling auto maker in the U.S., before ceding the top spot back to
General Motors Co.
last year.
In the most recent full fiscal year, ended March 2022, Toyota revenue rose 15% to ¥31.4 trillion, equivalent to $242 billion, and net profit rose 27% to ¥2.85 trillion, equivalent to $22 billion.
—Megumi Fujikawa contributed to this article.
Write to Peter Landers at Peter.Landers@wsj.com
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