Toyota Keeps it in the Family as the Founder's Grandson Becomes President

The last couple of years have been a rollercoaster ride for the Toyota Motor Corporation. The Japanese car company seems to be on track to surpass American rival General Motors (GM) as the number one auto seller worldwide, a distinction that GM has enjoyed for more than seven decades. Toyota's reputation for quality and longevity have helped boost sales both here and abroad, but lately a downed global economy has seen auto sales fizzle dramatically; and not even Toyota seems to be immune. Now the company is doing something that it hasn't done in 14 years and putting a member of the founding family in charge with the elevation of Akio Toyoda to president (source: news.yahoo.com).

Akio Toyoda, the grandson of the founder Kiichiro Toyoda, is 52 years old and has been groomed for the position for some years now. But his climb to the top came a little earlier than expected (source: news.yahoo.com). Rarely do such high executive levels get filled with those in their fifties as Japan is a culture steeped with the tradition of respect and admiration of elders. But perhaps Toyota is trying to send a message; one of change moving forward and better things to come for Toyota and ailing auto industry as a whole.

The move comes on the heels of Toyota announcing that sales of its vehicles declined by four percent as compared to the same time last year. Toyota also recently went in to the red with its finances for the first time in seventy years. The auto giant is forecasting a 150 billion yen ($1.69 billion) operating loss for the fiscal year ending March 31 (source: news.yahoo.com). While things aren't as bad as some American auto makers, which are having to take government bailout money just to get by, Toyota has certainly seen better days.

The company name was spelled with a "T" rather than a "D" as the founder of Toyota thought it would be luckier because of Japanese Superstition. Maybe by appointing a member of the Toyoda family to run things will bring some of that luck back to the company. Whether the luck is good or bad one thing is certain, Akio Toyoda will have plenty of support from members of the board which consists of two former presidents of Toyota (including Toyoda's predecessor) and Akio's father, Shoichiro Toyoda. While it is known that the Toyoda family owns only a small percentage of Toyota stock (source: news.yahoo.com), the desire of continued success for the company that their elders started is still very evident.