Wednesday, February 16. 2005Toyota shakes things up at the top; shuffle sets up founder's grandson as future CEOToyota Motor Corp. is sweeping out six senior executives.
The abrupt changing of the guard has two related objectives. >>> Groom Akio Toyoda, grandson of the company's founder, to become president, along with a supporting cast that will run the company for the next 10 to 15 years. >>> Shake up a company whose success carries the risk of complacency. Purchasing expert Katsuaki Watanabe, 63, will lead the new regime. Now an executive vice president, he will become Toyota's next president, succeeding Fujio Cho, 68. Analysts expect Watanabe to be Toyota's president for between three and five years. "He will serve until the right time to pass the leadership to Akio" Toyoda, says Takaki Nakanishi, auto analyst at UBS Securities Japan Ltd. Akio is the grandson of Toyota founder Kiichiro Toyoda and son of honorary chairman Shoichiro Toyoda. The Toyoda family holds less than 2 percent of Toyota's stock but still wields considerable influence. Trackbacks
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