Akio Toyoda, the president and chief executive officer of Toyota Motor Corporation, has stepped down from his roles, becoming the chairman of the board of directors from April 1 onwards.
Toyoda became president of the company back in 2009, making his time in the role a 14 year tenure.
Akio Toyoda’s replacement will be Koji Sato, the current president of Lexus and Gazoo Racing, as well as Toyota’s chief operating officer. Sato will not continue his role as chief branding officer of Toyota.
Akio Toyoda will step down from president duties on April 1
While Akio Toyoda’s reign was a long one, the biggest tenure was in fact Eiji Toyoda who was president from 1967 to 1982, and chairman from 1982 to 1994. Eiji died in 2013 at the age of 100.
Akio Toyoda is not just a corporate figure, but a racing fan, too
As the great-grandson of industrialist Sakichi Toyoda and the grandson of Toyota Motors founder Kiichiro Toyoda, Akio was bound to become part of the family business.
Akio Toyoda is a massive car racing enthusiast
However, during his 14 year tenure, Akio Toyoda spent a lot of time behind the wheel rather than sitting behind a desk.
As an avid fan of autosports and racing, Toyoda helped to promote models in the Toyota family, including the Lexus IS-F and LFA sports cars.
Toyoda actually gave himself an on-track persona, ‘Morizo’, a name that can now be found gracing a variant of the new GR Corolla.
The 2022 Toyota EV range lineup presented by Akio Toyoda
Akio Toyoda was also responsible for overseeing what could become the GR Yaris all-wheel-drive hatchback, the first GR-branded product to be launched by Toyota’s Gazoo Racing arm.
Toyoda was also a pivotal spokesperson and advocate for Toyota’s battery-electric vehicle plan that was announced to the public in 2022.
As the core of the EV strategy, Toyota plans to inject over $70 billion into electrification – both BEV and hybridisation – over a nine-year period, lagging somewhat behind other major automakers on the fully electric front.
