We pursued growth over the speed at which we were able to develop our people and our organization…
The president and CEO of Toyota is the grandson of Kiichiro Toyota,
the founder of the Toyota Motors was nick named as the “Prince” by the
media in Japan, when he took over Toyota Motors. He is the son of
Shoichiro Toyoda, the man behind the success of Toyota. He is known to
own assets worth $1 billion. He was announced as the forth coming
president of Toyota in January 2009 and on June 23rd he was confirmed
for the role of the president of the Toyota. It was confirmed along with
other four new executives of the company and the eight new members in
the board. A person known to be very approachable by his colleagues, he
is also known as a person who is very eager to play down his famous
family background. He also is known for his sudden visits to the
assembly lines and dealerships as well. He is known to have a hidden
infatuation for cars and racing which was very recently was shared by
himself on his blog.
Early Days and Education
Akio Toyoda was born in Nagoya to the couple Shoichiro Toyoda and
Tatsuro Toyoda on the 3rd of May, 1956 in the town of Nagoya in Japan.
Known to be descendents of Sakichi Toyoda, who is known to have
established Toyoda Automatic loom works, they have dominated the higher
management of Toyota Motors. The well known and the world famous Toyota
Motors has been incorporated in the year 1937. Shoichiro Toyoda, father
of Akio, was born in Nagoya on February 17, 1925 and is the son of
Kiichiro Toyoda.
Akio Toyota owns a degree in law from Keio University in the year
1979 and also a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the
Babson College, United States of America, in the year 1982. He joined
Toyota Motor Corporation in the year 1984. His career began outside the
family business, and his strong background made his elevation to the
president as inevitable. He is the first member of the family to lead
the Japan’s biggest carmaker after this uncle, Tatsuro, who stepped
aside in the year 1995 leaded Toyota in the 1980’s as well as the
1990’s. He was also a part of the team which drove the company’s Lexus
super car and finished fourth in their class. It was also after his
appointment, he did mention his love for cars and also said that he
would strive and produce cars with which anyone would fall in love with.
The Spark
Akio Toyoda’s career can be termed which includes postings in every
phase of the automobile operations, which includes production, marketing
as well as product development. Mr.Toyoda has also served outside Japan
as the executive Vice President at the Toyota’s productions joint
venture with General Motors in CA. This was in the year April 1998. In
the year January 2000, he made a return to Japan and was named as one of
the board of Directors of TMC in the month of June. Being in that role,
he took charge of the creation and supervision of Gazoo.com, a famous
website which has tons of virtual shops for consumer goods and services
along with the information about some new and used cars. He also
supervised the domestic marketing operations, and in June 2001, Mr.
Toyoda became the chief officer of the Asia and the China Operations
center and in the year 2002, he took over the position of managing
director.
He also served as the Director of Japan Automobile Manufacturers
Association Inc and also served as the Auditor of Shiroki Corporation.
He also served as the corporate auditor at JTEKT Corporation. He also
served as the Director at the Aisin AW Co.ltd.
His Journey with Toyota Motors
Akio Toyota became the president of Toyota Motors in the month of
June last year and laid a promise to him that he would steer it through
its worst crisis of the century. This statement was made in reference
to the global recession which left the firm with the first annual loss
ever in the history of 73 years. In the span of nine months, this 53
years old executive has his preparations for the US congressional
committee which showcases the firm’s safety recall of more than 8.5
million cars.
It was last year that the firm generated the highest returns and was
named among the World’s five biggest automakers. Akio Toyodo is also
known to be the lowest paid chief in the group with earnings as low as
one-tenth as his counterpart. The firm also climbed in terms of returns
this year by about 26% in dollar terms. It is hence termed by one and
all that Toyota’s President delivered the highest returns for the lowest
pay.
“Akio has been tested like no other CEO of Toyota in the last 30
years,” said Maryann Keller, principal at the auto industry consulting
firm Maryann Keller & Associates in Stamford, Connecticut. Compared
to Toyoda, “the competition is overpaid.”
In many other ways, the journey of this CEO is no different from any
other CEO. He is known to be quite loyal, diligent servant of the firm
which he joined as a junior manager in the 1984.
He served as the Senior Adviser and Director of Toyota Media Service
Corporation. He also worked as the Senior Advisor of Toyota Media
Service Corporation. He also took charge as the Chairperson of the
Japan Automobile manufacturers Association before taking charge as the
President and the Director of Toyota motor corporation.
Family
Akio Toyoda is married and has two children-one boy and one girl.
Professional Affiliations |
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SHIROKI Corporation |
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Toyota Finance Australia Ltd. |
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JTEKT Corporation |
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Toyota Boshoku Corporation |
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Toyota Motor Credit Corporation |
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Babson College |
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Aisin Aw CO.,LTD. |
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Toyota Media Service Corporation |
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Toyota Motor North America, Inc. |
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Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association Inc. |
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Awards and Accolades |
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Awarded as the Autocar Man of the Year |
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TOYOTA President’s Award for Excellence - 2009, 2007, 2006, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 1998, 1994, 1992, 1991 |
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Northern Metropolitan Dealer of the Year - 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2007, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001 |
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Customer Service Excellence Award – 2013 |
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QLD Fleet Dealer of the Year - 2011, 2009 |
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Top 20 Club Sales Achievement – 2011, 2009, 2008, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003 |
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Toyota Knight Award
(Silver/Bronze) - 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003,
2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990 |
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Quotes
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We have a very long history in operating in Australia. So going
forward, working closely with our suppliers in Australia, we would like
to aim at achieving sustainable growth  |
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We pursued growth over the speed at which we were able to develop our
people and our organization, .. My name is on every car. You have my
personal commitment that Toyota will work vigorously…  |
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At this Tokyo Motor Show, I want everyone to get a vision of Japan's future  |
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I've been called the world's most fuel-efficient chief executive  |
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We are just at the starting lines toward sustainable growth |
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I am at the top of Toyota and drive cars myself, ... I was also born with this name. |
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And since he has worked for companies outside of Toyota, I am sure he'll help us make better management decisions. |
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We want to think of business not simply for the year ahead, we want to
think on a longer time frame, and think about production and business
that's free of currency risks. |
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I
am not sure yet, is my honest answer. An unprecedented crisis even
beyond the scale of the Lehman shock may happen again, ... We'll only
know the answer when such events actually happen |
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