TOKYO: Toyota Motor Corp would change the top management order for improving business performance. Current President Katsuaki Watanabe, who has headed Toyota since June 2005, will become vice chairman.
At the same time, Akio Toyoda, executive vice president would be promoted to president in April. Toyoda is scheduled to attend a news conference on Thursday in Tokyo to jointly launch a car with Daihatsu Motor Co.
Japanese daily Asahi reported on Tuesday that Toyoda, a grandson of company founder Kiichiro Toyoda, has been responsible for the firm’s Japanese and overseas operations.
The report comes a day after the world’s biggest automaker forecast a first-ever annual operating loss, blaming a relentless sales slide and a crippling rise in the yen.
Automakers around the world face their toughest business environment in recent memory, caught in a sharp reversal of demand as the financial crisis spreads, squeezing credit and consumer sentiment.
