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☆ Shoichiro Toyoda Led Toyota to Dominance in the U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( River Davis | Chieko Tsuneoka | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

TOKYO—When Shoichiro Toyoda took the helm of his father’s company in 1982, about 6% of new cars sold in the U.S. were made by Toyota Motor Corp., compared with 43% from General Motors. Mr. Toyoda, who died Feb. 14 at the age of 97, built plants in North America, smoothed over trade frictions and accelerated Toyota’s growth into a global juggernaut. He ultimately left his son, Akio Toyoda , a company that in 2021 overtook GM as the U.S.’s top-selling auto maker for the first time.

☆ New Toyota Chief Says He Will Accelerate Shift in EV Strategy
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( River Davis | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

TOKYO— Toyota Motor Corp.’s new chief executive said he was looking to accelerate the auto maker’s push into electric vehicles by introducing new EV-optimized parts and manufacturing methods. Toyota will develop new EVs for its luxury Lexus brand by 2026, and everything in those models will be optimized for EVs including the battery and the manufacturing platform, Koji Sato said at a briefing Monday. Mr. Sato, 53, is set to become chief executive in April, taking over from longtime leader Akio Toyoda .

☆ Toyota's Q3 profit jumps 22%, buoyed by weak yen and higher sales
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Daniel Leussink | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Operating profit for the three months ended Dec. 31 was 956.7 billion yen ($7.28 billion). That beat the average 764.54 billion yen profit estimated by 10 analysts, according to Refinitiv data. In the same period a year earlier, Toyota reported a 784.4 billion yen profit. He will hand over to the leader of Toyota's Lexus luxury brand as the shift to electric vehicles challenges the car giant. It also cut its sales target for battery electric vehicles to 40 from 58, following an embarrassing recall of its first battery electric model, the bz4x, last year due to safety issues.

☆ Toyota's Q3 profit jumps 22% as weak yen helps
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Daniel Leussink | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Operating profit for the three months ended Dec. 31 was 956.7 billion yen ($7.28 billion). That beat the average 764.54 billion yen profit estimated by 10 analysts, according to Refinitiv data. In the same period a year earlier, Toyota reported a 784.4 billion yen profit. While it trimmed its annual production target by about 1%, to around 9.1 million vehicles, it stuck to its forecast for annual profit of 2.4 trillion yen for the year to end-March. The automaker is likely to comfortably exceed that forecast, given that it has now delivered 2.1 trillion yen in the first nine months of the year, said Koji Endo, senior analyst at SBI Securities.

"As the United States deepens its relationship with the Philippines, it's important for regional security that Japan join in," a Japanese defence ministry source with knowledge of internal discussions on national security told Reuters. At a press briefing last week, Neil Imperial, the Philippines Assistant Secretary for Asian and Pacific Affairs, said Marcos wanted to "facilitate closer defence, security, political, economic and people-to-people ties" while in Japan. That sentiment is shared in Tokyo, which has been deepening security ties with nations that view China with concern. Those deals provide a framework for how Marcos and Kishida could also forge deeper military ties to counter their common adversary, say experts. "The Philippines is a critical security partner for Japan," said Narushige Michishita, a professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) in Tokyo.

TOKYO, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Japan's state-backed chip venture Rapidus will need about 7 trillion yen ($54 billion) of mostly taxpayer money to begin mass producing advanced logic chips in around 2027, its chairman, Tetsuro Higashi, told Reuters on Thursday. "In the past, the United States hindered Japan's chip industry growth. Japan and the United States worry that friction with China will result in semiconductor shortages that could threaten economic growth. Japan's most advanced semiconductor factory is a 40 nanometre plant owned by Renesas Electronics (6723.T). For them, the decision to invest will be taken when they are able assess our technology and production plans."

☆ Toyota Rethinks EV Strategy With New CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( River Davis | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Toyota ’s chief executive always said he wasn’t a skeptic about electric vehicles—he was a realist. Longtime CEO Akio Toyoda called himself a spokesman for “a silent majority” of people in the auto industry who questioned a single-minded focus on EVs. He argued that hybrid gas-electric vehicles like Toyota’s Prius could be just as environmentally friendly, and said other companies were pushing consumers to make a leap into EVs that they might not be ready for, without a charging infrastructure fully in place.

The 66-year-old Toyoda on Thursday announced he would step aside as leader of the company his grandfather founded from April 1 to take the role of chairman. He will hand over to Koji Sato, the 53-year-old head of Toyota's luxury Lexus brand. "It's likely that he'll remain active as chairman for a long time and continue to put his mark on Toyota." "Toyota is a public company that likes to pretend it's a family company," said John Shook, a former Toyota manager who now consults on the lean management techniques pioneered by the automaker. "Choosing someone who is much younger and with Sato's background indicates Akio recognised the time for change had come."

TOKYO, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) chief Akio Toyoda is set to remain a dominant force inside the world's largest automaker for years to come, and will continue to influence the agenda after stepping down in April, experts and people familiar with the firm said. The 66-year-old Toyoda on Thursday announced he would step aside as leader of the company his grandfather founded from April 1 to take the role of chairman. "It's likely that he'll remain active as chairman for a long time and continue to put his mark on Toyota." "Toyota is a public company that likes to pretend it's a family company," said John Shook, a former Toyota manager who now consults on the lean management techniques pioneered by the automaker. "Choosing someone who is much younger and with Sato's background indicates Akio recognised the time for change had come."

☆ Artificial intelligence out-buzzes the blockchain
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Jan 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The blockchain is so last year. The newest craze to excite investors is artificial intelligence. It’s a welcome boost for the $300 million company, whose stock price has been in the dumps since it merged with a blank-check firm in 2021. In 2017 shares in beverage company Long Island Iced Tea almost quadrupled in value after it rebranded as Long Blockchain. In the internet craze of the late 1990s, companies enjoyed a stock price boost by adding “dot-com” to their nameplate.

☆ H&M’s fast-fashion parade is skating on thin ice
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, Jan 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - H&M’s (HMb.ST) outfit is once again failing to impress. That corresponds to a meagre operating margin of 1.3%, a far cry from the around 15% margin larger rival Inditex (ITX.MC) is expected to report in its fourth quarter. H&M’s operating margins were already lingering in the mid-single-digit area before inflation became a problem. Sales growth of just 5% in December and January suggests the Swedish retailer is struggling to recover to its pre-crisis levels. If a recession curbs even more consumer spending, H&M’s profit margin may disappear.

☆ Sainsbury’s latest bid chatter looks overblown
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Jan 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Sainsbury’s (SBRY.L) is in the crosshairs of discount shoppers. Although the news drove Sainsbury’s shares up 5%, a bid looks unlikely. Its 530 million pounds of EBITDA in 2022 was less than a quarter of Sainsbury’s, implying any deal would be a stretch. And Bestway would have to win over the Qataris and Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky who together own nearly a quarter of Sainsbury’s. Before Friday’s share bump, Sainsbury’s traded at around 5.5 times its forward EBITDA compared to larger rival Tesco (TSCO.L) which trades on 6.5 times.

☆ Rolls-Royce alarm is justified, if oddly expressed
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Jan 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Rolls-Royce's (RR.L) new boss Tufan Erginbilgic has the right sentiments, but arguably the wrong words. Cue a 4% drop in Rolls’ share price. In fairness, the Turkish-British national’s alarm is justified. Rolls is a bit like that: its share price has dropped 70% since 2014. JPMorgan reckons the sum of its parts implies an equity value of only 70 pence a share, 30% below the current share price.

☆ The outgoing CEO of a giant autos firm had a message for his successor: Don't be like me
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Sophie Kiderlin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

After Akio Toyoda, CEO and President of Toyota, announced he was stepping down on Thursday, he shared his advice to his successor and his business philosophy. After Akio Toyoda, the CEO and President of Toyota, announced he was stepping down on Thursday, he shared his advice to his successor and broke down his business philosophy. "I told Sato 'don't try to run the company on your own, but as a team'," Toyoda said. Toyoda is due to officially step down as CEO and president on April 1, and will then become chairman of the board. His successor Sato is currently chief branding officer and is the head of Toyota's racing arm Gazoo and its Lexus division.

☆ Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda to Hand Control to Next Generation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( River Davis | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Toyota Chief Executive Akio Toyoda said it was time to pass the baton to a younger executive. TOKYO— Toyota Motor Corp. Chief Executive Akio Toyoda , who has expressed skepticism about an all-electric vehicle future, said he would hand the keys to a younger executive who he said might have new ideas. Koji Sato , a 53-year-old engineer who will take over as Toyota’s CEO in April, offered few details about his plans for the world’s top-selling auto maker. But his experience leading the introduction of the first fully electric Lexus and working on hydrogen-powered cars puts him in a position to tackle the coming transformation in cars.

☆ Toyota Needs a New EV Road Map
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Stephen Wilmot | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Toyota President Akio Toyoda recently said the car maker is looking at rolling out a dedicated manufacturing platform for electric vehicles. Toyota ‘s incoming boss has a big decision to make on electric vehicles. The world’s largest car maker by sales said Thursday that its President Akio Toyoda would move into the chairman role in April, leaving Lexus President Koji Sato to run the company. The unexpected move was prompted by the decision by current Chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada to retire. Celebrated as the father of the Prius, Mr. Uchiyamada said he saw the need for “generational change.”

☆ Who Is Koji Sato? Behind Next Toyota CEO’s Rapid Rise
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Megumi Fujikawa | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Toyota’s Chief Branding Officer Koji Sato, in a light jacket, will replace Akio Toyoda as the auto maker’s chief executive in April. TOKYO—It wasn’t too long ago that Toyota Motor Corp.’s Koji Sato found himself in the front passenger seat of a Lexus electric vehicle driven by his boss, Akio Toyoda . “What happens if I hit the accelerator?” asked Mr. Toyoda. “Give it a go,” replied Mr. Sato, and the two men laughed and whooped together as the car whizzed around a test track.

For the last three years, the 66-year-old has built up the "Toyota Times", hiring Japanese journalists and ramping up coverage of the company to counter what he sees as persistent misinformation and unfair criticism. "What I find unfortunate is that the media often thrives on conflict, setting BEVs against hybrids, for example," Toyoda said on the Toyota Times recently. After almost an hour of scripted presentations and banter, the Toyota Times host turned to questions from reporters. Toyoda has increasingly appeared to eschew traditional media as the company fell out of favour with environmentalists who once lauded its green technology. The Toyota Times also exclusively publishes the closely watched results of the company's spring wage negotiations with its union.

☆ Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda to Step Down and Become Chairman
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Peter Landers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Toyota Chief Executive Akio Toyoda said it was time to pass the baton to a younger executive. TOKYO— Toyota 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.

☆ Akio Toyoda Steps Down as Toyota President to Become Chairman
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Peter Landers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

TOKYO— Toyota Motor Corp. said that Akio Toyoda , a scion of the founding family who has led the company as president since 2009, will step down from his role as president and chief executive and become Toyota’s chairman in April. Toyota said Koji Sato , who is currently chief branding officer, will become president and chief executive officer on April 1.

☆ Timeline: Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda to step down after 14 years at the helm
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Here's a chronology of key events and milestones in Toyota's history under Toyoda, the 66-year-old grandson of the company's founder. "CRISIS AFTER CRISIS"In June 2009, Toyoda became the president of the company his grandfather Kiichiro founded in 1937, replacing Katsuaki Watanabe. Akio was the first member of Toyoda family to take the helm since 1995. The safety crisis, which forced Toyoda to testify before Congress in 2010, threatened Toyota’s reputation and continued success in its most profitable market. Toyoda said on Thursday his term at the helm started with "crisis after crisis."

☆ Toyota leader Akio Toyoda to step down as president and chief executive
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Toyota Motor Corp FollowTOKYO, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) said on Thursday that Akio Toyoda will step down as president and chief executive to become chairman from April 1, and hand over the helm of Japan's biggest automaker to its top branding officer, Koji Sato. Sato will become the new CEO while the current chairman, Takeshi Uchiyamada, will drop his chairman title but remain on the board, Toyota said. The issue of who would take over from Toyoda, the 66-year-old grandson of the company's founder, had increasingly been a focus for investors. Here are some reactions to the news:KOJI ENDO, SENIOR ANALYST AT SBI SECURITIE“I myself was surprised. Ten out of 10 analysts had probably been thinking that Toyoda would carry on (as CEO) for a while, so that came as a huge surprise.

☆ Toyota names Lexus chief Koji Sato CEO as Akio Toyoda takes chairman role
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Toyota Motor Corporation President Akio Toyoda and Toyota's GAZOO Racing Company President Koji Sato attend an event for Toyota GAZOO Racing and LEXUS at Tokyo Auto Salon 2023 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, east of Tokyo, Japan January 13, 2023. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-HoonCompanies Toyota Motor Corp FollowLexus FollowTOKYO, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) said on Thursday that Akio Toyoda will step down as president and chief executive to become chairman from April 1, and hand over the helm of Japan's biggest automaker to the company's top branding officer. Koji Sato, a 53-year-old who is also president of Toyota's luxury brand Lexus, will become the new CEO, the company said. He has held positions as the president of Lexus International and Gazoo Racing Company, Toyota’s motorsport brand, since 2020. He also took on an executive role at Toyota and became its chief branding officer in January 2021.

☆ Toyota CEO and President Akio Toyoda to step down
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Ruxandra Iordache | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Toyota Motor Corporation's President and Chief Executive Akio Toyoda will step down from his post on April 1, to be replaced by current Chief Branding Officer Koji Sato, the Japanese automaker said Thursday. Toyoda will become the new chairman of the board, while the current Chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada will continue as a member of the board. Toyoda, 66, is the grandson of the carmaker's founder and has served as chief executive since June 2009. Chairman Uchiyamada has long supported me in all imaginable ways," Toyoda said in a webcast. Tokyo-listed shares of Toyota ended the session 0.63% lower Thursday ahead of the announcement.

☆ Economic data tells half-truth
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 26 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The best measure for tracking how much value an entire economy puts out, arguably, is gross domestic product. But for those trying to parse through Thursday’s U.S. GDP reading, published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the devil is in the details. The trouble is that economic growth was largely fueled by companies, not people, which reflects the real heartbeat of the economy. Strip out that and other inconsistent segments, and the U.S. economy grew at just a 0.2% annualized pace in the fourth quarter, the smallest jump since early 2020. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

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