Toyota names new president, set to overtake GM in 2008 sales+

TOKYO, Jan. 20 Kyodo -
Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday it will promote Executive Vice President Akio
Toyoda, a member of the company's founding family, to president in late June,
while reporting group global vehicle sales of 8.972 million units for 2008,
raising the likelihood it will overtake General Motors Corp. as the world's
largest automaker in sales.
In a widely expected decision, Toyoda, the 52-year-old eldest son of Toyota
Motor Honorary Chairman Shoichiro Toyoda, will soon take the helm as the global
auto industry reels from the fallout of a worldwide economic downturn.
''I have been given a big role of steering Toyota as it faces an unprecedented
crisis of once in a hundred years,'' Toyoda said at a press conference in
Tokyo.
''Right now, I just know I need to brace myself for this heavy
responsibility,'' he said.
Earlier in the day, Japan's top automaker said its group vehicle sales last
year dropped 4 percent but it looked increasingly certain of stripping GM of a
title the U.S. auto giant has held for 77 consecutive years until 2007.
GM is expected to release its 2008 sales data on Wednesday where it is expected
to report a sharper fall in sales than Toyota as the cash-strapped firm
struggles to stay afloat amid the tough global auto market.
The Toyota group, including small car maker Daihatsu Motor Co. and truck and
bus builder Hino Motors Ltd., was already leading the top U.S. automaker in
sales during the January-September period of 2008 by over 300,000 units.
Toyota overtook GM in terms of global production for the first time in 2007 and
has remained in the top slot for two straight years, but it will be the first
time ever if it takes the helm both in terms of annual global sales and
production volume.
The Toyota group's domestic sales slid 5 percent to 2.15 million units, while
its overseas sales declined 4 percent to 6.82 million units due to sagging
demand in key markets amid the global economic turmoil.
It will be the first time for the Toyota group to log a year-on-year drop since
it began tallying figures using the current method in 2001.
Global auto sales of Toyota alone fell 5 percent to 7.996 million units,
marking the first year-on-year drop in a decade.
Toyota had been vying for the top spot by expanding its sales in emerging
markets, but a neck-and-neck race began last year as both Toyota and GM
struggled to stem plummeting global auto sales through aggressive production
cuts as well as through access to government financial aid on the part of the
U.S. automaker.
Toyota looks to turn its fortunes around by tapping Toyoda, who is also the
great-grandson of the late Sakichi Toyoda, who founded the Toyota Motor group
in 1937.
But Akio Toyoda faces tall orders as grim sales figures increase the prospects
of the automaker suffering its first-ever group operating loss in fiscal 2008
through March.
Toyota plans to cut nonregular workers to around 3,000 by March 31 from some
6,000 as of Oct. 31.
''Stable maintenance of employment is a very important role for a company. We
will do our utmost within a legal framework,'' Toyoda said.
In the management reshuffle, current President Katsuaki Watanabe, 66, will
become vice chairman to hand over the top seat to a founding family heir for
the first time in 14 years.
''In order to overcome this crisis, our past experience will not be enough,''
Watanabe told reporters in Tokyo. ''Now is the time for drastic reforms that
require a fresh mind, a fresh viewpoint and bold action.''
Chairman Fujio Cho, 71, will retain his post as he vowed to support Toyoda, who
has long been tipped as a likely future president after supervising both
overseas and domestic sales as well as marketing operations.
Cho said Toyoda is the ''best person to carry out bold reforms during a period
of major changes'' even as both emphasized the need to return to traditional
Toyota values while embracing fresh strategies to create strong growth.
==Kyodo
2009-01-20 22:09:37