Man behind Prius set to be Toyota's chairman
Source: Agencies |
January 23, 2013, Wednesday
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Print Edition
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THE man who led the development of Toyota Motor Corp's Prius hybrid car is set to become the Japanese automaker's chairman as early as this year, said two senior executives familiar with the matter, in a boardroom shuffle that should do little to lessen President Akio Toyoda's grip.
A final decision to appoint Takeshi Uchiyamada, 66, to what is effectively the No.2 position in many Japanese firms has not yet been made and the promotion could still be postponed for a year.
But it's already been an "established direction" and a "given" since last year that Uchiyamada, vice chairman since June, would replace Fujio Cho, who has been chairman since 2006, said the executives, who didn't want to be named as they are not authorized to speak to the media.
A Toyota spokesman declined to comment.
One of the knowledgeable company executives described Uchiyamada's promotion as being a "highly anticipated" move since last year when Toyota asked Cho to serve one more year as chairman. Cho, a 75-year-old Toyota veteran who was company president from 1999 to 2005, would become a senior adviser.
Toyoda, grandson of the automaker's founder, considers Cho a lynchpin of his power and support base inside Toyota and may even ask him to stay on for yet another year as chairman, even though Cho has recurring back pain and has said he wants to retire, the two executives said.
Toyoda's grip on the company's management team and board should not be impacted, they said. "It's a case of a pro-Akio executive replacing another Akio supporter as chairman," said one. "This isn't going to change the whole scheme of things at Toyota."
Japan's Nikkei economic daily reported late on Monday that Toyota had picked Uchiyamada to replace Cho this year.
In many Japanese companies, including Toyota, the chairman's role is often to take charge of external affairs, such as government and industry affairs, while the president runs day-to-day operations.
A final decision to appoint Takeshi Uchiyamada, 66, to what is effectively the No.2 position in many Japanese firms has not yet been made and the promotion could still be postponed for a year.
But it's already been an "established direction" and a "given" since last year that Uchiyamada, vice chairman since June, would replace Fujio Cho, who has been chairman since 2006, said the executives, who didn't want to be named as they are not authorized to speak to the media.
A Toyota spokesman declined to comment.
One of the knowledgeable company executives described Uchiyamada's promotion as being a "highly anticipated" move since last year when Toyota asked Cho to serve one more year as chairman. Cho, a 75-year-old Toyota veteran who was company president from 1999 to 2005, would become a senior adviser.
Toyoda, grandson of the automaker's founder, considers Cho a lynchpin of his power and support base inside Toyota and may even ask him to stay on for yet another year as chairman, even though Cho has recurring back pain and has said he wants to retire, the two executives said.
Toyoda's grip on the company's management team and board should not be impacted, they said. "It's a case of a pro-Akio executive replacing another Akio supporter as chairman," said one. "This isn't going to change the whole scheme of things at Toyota."
Japan's Nikkei economic daily reported late on Monday that Toyota had picked Uchiyamada to replace Cho this year.
In many Japanese companies, including Toyota, the chairman's role is often to take charge of external affairs, such as government and industry affairs, while the president runs day-to-day operations.
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