A scion of Toyota founder Kiichiro Toyoda has died at the age of 97.
The company announced in a press statement that its honorary chairman, Shoichiro Toyoda, passed away on Feb. 14, 2023. He is the father of outgoing Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) president and CEO Akio Toyoda.
Toyoda started his career in the family business in 1952 after finishing engineering at Nagoya University.
He became managing director in 1961 and was promoted to senior managing director in 1967 and executive vice president in 1972. Toyoda was later named president of Toyota’s sales organization in 1981.
Following the merger of the company’s sales and production divisions in 1982, he became president of the newly integrated TMC, serving later as chairman of the board between 1992 and 1999.
Toyoda served on the Toyota board for 57 years and assumed the position of honorary chairman in 2009 until his death.
“The funeral service will be for close family members only,” the carmaker said. “Toyota Motor Corporation will hold a farewell gathering at a later date.”
Major export player
Toyoda was instrumental in giving global recognition to Toyota, which eventually became the world’s top-selling car brand.
He helped set up overseas production facilities for the company, including a joint venture with American car giant General Motors in 1984, along with plants in Kentucky and Canada in 1986 and one in Derbyshire, UK, in 1989.
Toyoda’s tenure also saw the launch of the luxury brand Lexus in 1989 and the introduction of one of the first hybrid-electric vehicles, the Toyota Prius, in 1997.
Corporate shakeup looms
Toyoda’s passing comes amid a transition of power in the Japanese conglomerate.
Akio Toyoda will step down as Toyota’s president and CEO on April 1, 2023. He hands the reins over to Koji Sato, currently president and CEO of Lexus International and the firm’s motorsports division, GAZOO Racing.
The younger Toyoda will move to his father’s old role as company chairman, replacing Takeshi Uchiyamada.
The corporate movement comes at a significant crossroads for Toyota, which has been reluctant to fully commit to battery-electric vehicles (EV) since Akio Toyoda’s reign started in 2009.
Nonetheless, Toyota’s battery EVs include the bZ3 sedan and the bZ4x and Lexus RZ crossovers as of press time.
Rest in peace, Toyoda-san.
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Source: Toyota honorary chair Shoichiro Toyoda, father of Akio Toyoda, passes away on Valentine’s Day