Seiji Sato has been inaugurated as president of Toyota Motor Corp

On April 1, Seiji Sato was officially inaugurated as the new president of Japan's Toyota Motor Corporation. Former President Akio Toyoda will assume the chairmanship.

"I became president after the Lehman crisis caused an operating deficit," Mr Toyoda said on social media. I still can't forget hearing someone say, 'When did Toyota become a money-only company? 'The unwillingness of time. When I came up with the slogan 'Make a better car,' a lot of people didn't understand, saying, 'Why can't this guy even say a numerical goal? 'I walked alone. Everyone is waiting to see, 'What can you do?' and when things go wrong, it's like, 'Look, I'm telling you.'"

Toyoda said bluntly: "In such an atmosphere, I have led the company through time and again the survival of the company with a combative enthusiasm and all-out action. Now, I have more and more like-minded partners, and the slogan 'Make better cars' is being shown to the world as a product."

Of his successor, Tsunaji Sato, Mr Toyoda said: "Now I have someone around me who I can safely pass the baton to."

The 66-year-old grandson of founder Kiichiro Toyoda joined Toyota in 1984, became a director in 2000, was promoted to managing director in 2002 and was promoted to president in June 2009, according to official information. He has been at the helm for 13 years.

Sato, 53, who graduated from Waseda University with a degree in science and technology, joined Toyota Motor in 1992 and has been in charge of Lexus since 2003. He became chief engineer of Lexus International in 2016 and executive director of Toyota Motor since 2020. He has been involved in the development of components for the Corolla and Prius brands and is in charge of Lexus.

According to the latest financial results of Toyota, in the first three quarters of the 2023 fiscal year (April 1 to December 31, 2022), Toyota Motor revenue 27.46 trillion yen (about 1.44 trillion yuan), up 18.01% year on year, net profit attributable to 1.9 trillion yen (99.319 billion yuan), down 18.10% year on year.