Shoichiro Toyoda Lashes Out at Toyota Execs

[Steve]

One of the last things Shoichiro Toyoda did as honorary chairman at Toyota Motor Corp., was to assemble all of the company's executives and give them a tongue lashing. Toyoda even called out president Katsuaki Watanabe and blamed those in charge of the Japanese automaker for leaving behind the company's long-standing business practices to chase the quick-buck. He said they followed the lead of now-bankrupt automakers like GM and Chrysler, a path that has put the company in a serious financial bind.

While Toyota has posted significant profits for years, last year it posted a $4.5 billion loss and expects to lose even more ($5.7 billion) next year.

Toyota has always been known for building economical cars and for using a business practice called kaizen, where small improvements are constantly made to improve products. It is expected that Akio Toyoda (pictured above), the new Toyota president and grandson to the company’s founder, will once again begin to return the company to an economically-minded, slow growth corporation. Akio will officially take over the Toyota helm tomorrow.

Industry experts also believe that in order for Toyota to stay on top it must not only move away from luxury cars and large trucks, but it must also look outside the United States and develop vehicles for emerging markets.

More: Shoichiro Toyoda Lashes Out at Toyota Execs on AutoGuide.com

[Schroeder64]

i love that car

[Schroeder64]

fdsfg

[knj27]

Good to see a guy who has something to say when his company screws up. Best of luck to Akio, he'll get the company back on track. When a company becomes as huge as Toyota as relatively quickly as they did, the kind of greed the Shoichiro was talking about is usually inevitable. But it's good to see they have a plan to get back to their roots, unlike American companies who just continued to let their greed and union problems grow bigger and bigger until it was too late to change.

[snigma]

As long as the next generation of Toyota's have better quality under his guidance, Toyota's sales will only go up.

[eyeball96]

Thank you Mr Toyoda, and may God Bless!

[CharmCityES]

long live toyota!

lets take it back to the core values!

[toyotaholic]

Originally Posted by knj27

Good to see a guy who has something to say when his company screws up. Best of luck to Akio, he'll get the company back on track. When a company becomes as huge as Toyota as relatively quickly as they did, the kind of greed the Shoichiro was talking about is usually inevitable. But it's good to see they have a plan to get back to their roots, unlike American companies who just continued to let their greed and union problems grow bigger and bigger until it was too late to change.

very well said. Best of luck to Akio, hope he succeeds in bringing the company back to its roots

[PhatRoyale]

This article is a breathe of fresh air!

I for one am glad that somebody as high up as Shoichiro Toyoda had the guts to tell it like it is. Even though it meant making his company look back in the public's eyes. Being the number one automaker in the world is useless to brag about if your products are receiving poor ratings in reliability and durability.

Let's hope Akio pulls a throwback to the 80s and 90s, a time when Toyota's built during that era were practically indestructible.

[dtacow]

Thats fine and dandy, maybe they remember how to build tough trucks. In the mean time, for my next truck I'll shop the competition.

[knj27]

Originally Posted by PhatRoyale

Let's hope Akio pulls a throwback to the 80s and 90s, a time when Toyota's built during that era were practically indestructible.

QFT

[Jaspher]

I hope Toyota goes back to how it used to be as builders of high quality long lasting cars.

[got-rice]

+1...need fun cars, and the old Toyota quality.

[CharmCityES]

needs moar car and less suv

[TrailDust]

I don't know, I'd like to see them stick with a complete line of SUVs and 4X4s. Glad to see the top executives called on the carpet for some stupid policies in recent years, not the least of which is to ignore customer complaints.