Toyota CEO Breaks Tradition By Tapping Younger Successor

Toyota Motor Corp.'s surprise announcement of a change in its top management came as CEO Akio Toyoda, the grandson of the founder, picked an executive more than 10 years younger than him as his successor at a time when the global auto industry faces a once-in-a-century paradigm shift driven by decarbonization and digitization, Kyodo News reported.

Photo Insert: Toyota's leadership

The head of the auto group's Lexus brand operation Koji Sato, 53, will become CEO in April while 66-year-old Toyoda who has led the company since 2009 will become chairman, allowing him to devote more time to lobbying activities. Toyoda is currently the chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.

Toyoda said in a press conference Thursday that youthfulness is an essential quality for his company's next leader when game-changing disruption in the industry is on the horizon.

Toyota's previous presidents, except for those from the founding family, have always been in their 60s when they assumed the top position.

"When no one knows what the right answer is (for the industry's future), the leader needs to be like a foreman," Toyoda said in a press conference. "In order to do that, you have to be physically, mentally and passionately fit.

The leadership change comes when even a company like Toyota, the world's biggest car seller, is under pressure to embark on a transformation and overcome challenges in achieving greener vehicles and adapting to new technologies as newcomers venture into making electrified vehicles.

Toyota remains the leader in hybrid cars, but some industry analysts say Toyota is lagging behind European and U.S. rivals in the electric vehicle race even though the automaker, which has been developing hydrogen-powered engines, has said it is not fully convinced that going electric is the right way to go.

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