The grandson of Toyota’s founder is stepping down and the brand will have a new CEO

During live, the CEO of Toyota, Akio Toyoda, announced that he will step down from his position on April 1. Akio, who is the grandson of the company’s founder, Kiichiro Toyoda, chose Koji Sato as his successor. This, today, collects the duties of the president of Lexus and Gazoo Competition.

In addition to being Toyoda’s right-hand man, Sato also has a strong identity with the automaker. He started his career at Toyota in 1992, as a newly graduated engineer, and rose through the ranks of the company, working directly on the first projects. prius It is from Corolla. In the opinion of the former CEO of the future, Sato, 53 years old, will be able to lead the company in the transition from combustion engines to clean technology.

At the helm since 2009, Akio Toyoda has been criticized by the company for the slow adoption of electric vehicles. Toyota He believes he is part of the “silent majority”as he himself recently explained, as his future vision includes researching and developing other ways to achieve zero carbon emissions, through hybrid or alternative energy, as we have seen in toyota mirai powered by hydrogen.

Despite the changes, it is likely that the policy on trams will remain the same. “It won’t be an immediate replacement for electric cars, but it’s good for people to know that there are other options available when the rise of EVs finally settles,” Koji Sato said at an event in Thailand last year.

In December last year, Toyota itself presented a Hilux electric model, developed by the Thai car manufacturing unit. Meanwhile, Toyota is also studying using Mirai technology in the pickupin a project played in England.

Despite being outside the leadership of Toyota, Akio Toyoda will still hold the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors, replacing Takeshi Uchiyamada. Under Sato’s leadership, a strong environmental policy is expected to accelerate the rollout of electric vehicles, so that the automaker does not stand out from others such as GM and Tesla.