Akio Toyoda May Have Lost the Job Title, But He's Still the Guy

Market reaction to Toyoda’s announcement was muted - the automaker’s stock ended little changed in Tokyo on Friday - as investors bet the company was unlikely to see a big overhaul in the foreseeable future.

“The new appointment is less about a change in direction and more about careful consideration of the best possible way to organise the handover, avoiding disruption and chaos,” said Julie Boote, an analyst at Pelham Smithers Associates in London.

“It’s likely that he’ll remain active as chairman for a long time and continue to put his mark on Toyota.”

One Toyota executive, who asked not to be identified, said the automaker was headed for a period of “cloistered rule”, referring to a period in Japan’s history when a retired emperor continued to play a key decision-making role.

At a news conference on Thursday, broadcast on Toyota’s in-house media platform, Toyoda looked fully in control, turning from time to time to offer instruction and reminders to Sato.

Still, outsiders have been able to put their stamp on the company. Toyoda’s soon-to-be predecessor as chairman, Takeshi Uchiyamada, is often credited with spearheading development of the Prius.

“Toyota is a public company that likes to pretend it’s a family company,” said John Shook, a former Toyota manager who now consults on the lean management techniques pioneered by the automaker.

“Choosing someone who is much younger and with Sato’s background indicates Akio recognised the time for change had come.”

“China has cornered the electric vehicle supply chain market,” Manchin said. [The] Treasury is “now continuing to let the $7,500 credit go without any concerns at all about the critical mineral requirements.”

Manchin, joined by Republican Senator Mike Braun, sought unanimous consent to pass the proposal but Stabenow objected.

The EV credit is “complicated, it doesn’t work for several years for American companies,” Stabenow said. Automakers need more time to meet battery sourcing requirements, she said.

“It is not unreasonable what Treasury is doing ... they have been given an incredibly complicated task to try to figure out how this consumer credit will work,” Stabenow said.

In a Reuters interview, Stabenow said Manchin’s bill “would literally take away credits from people who are buying cars today ... Fundamentally, (Manchin) is not a fan of EVs.”

Ford Performance boss Mark Rushbrook has suggested a change in mindset, though, with F1 now worthy of consideration thanks to its recent growth.

Speaking exclusively to Motorsport.com, Rushbrook said: “Formula 1 is certainly strong and growing, both in the United States and globally.

“What they have done well is create great racing and great competition. It’s still the pinnacle, but they’ve been able to reach new audiences with things like Drive to Survive.

“As a company we go racing for innovation, tech transfer, the learning opportunity, but also for marketing reasons as well. It’s shifted for sure, and it definitely requires consideration.”

Asked specifically about the rumours regarding a potential 2026 entry, Rushbrook said: “We don’t comment on speculation, but it’s the same with all these series that are out there.

“It’s our responsibility to study them and understand them, and then make decisions on whether it makes sense or doesn’t make sense.”

Having one of its main market competitors racing in F1 would certainly deliver some impetus for Ford to take it on.

However, Rushbrook felt that what GM did would not strictly dictate Ford’s plans.

Asked if GM’s involvement would change anything for Ford, he said: “Not necessarily. But it will be interesting to watch how that progresses, whether they will be successful in joining as an 11th team.”

Is it possible you’d announce another plant in the US by 2024?

We’re very much concentrated in Kansas, of course, we want to get that right. We’ve taken the technology, but now we actually have done the scaling up. That’s what makes our position really quite prominent in the industry: 66 batteries a second, it’s a lot of batteries. That’s 2 billion batteries a year. And we know we probably can do that. So Kansas takes us to that next stage.

There was that whole beauty pageant between Kansas and Oklahoma to win that plant, each state was throwing incentives at you. Is there still potential for a plant in Oklahoma?

We estimate we’ll grow roughly fourfold by 2030. So yes, there’s definitely potential for other plants in the US.

American Honda Motor expects to increase its sales volume 25 percent this year over its disappointing 2022 performance, which resulted in under 1 million vehicle sales in the U.S. market and a last place finish among the top U.S. manufacturers.

Honda brand projects it will close 2023 around 1.2 million sales, and Acura is targeting 160,000 units, said Mamadou Diallo, vice president of auto sales for American Honda, during a media briefing earlier this week.

Diallo, who will step into the expanded role of American Honda senior vice president of auto sales when Executive Vice President of national operations Dave Gardner retires at the end of March, called the year just ended “frustrating” and said consecutive challenges prevented production of consistent supply.

Honda started last year with about 20,000 vehicles in on-hand inventory and hovered in the single digits of days’ supply for the bulk of the year, Diallo said.

Looking ahead, Diallo said the brands are optimistic.

“We’re starting the year with roughly double the on-hand inventory compared to last year and plan to build about 1.3 million units,” Diallo said.

Turning the page on what the brand dubbed the “year of the Honda SUV,” Diallo said 2023 marks “the year of our digital and electrified transformation.”

“This year you will really see the proof points of our smart strategy as we lead into fully electrified sales,” he said.

According to Shelby, nobody could agree on any of the many names thrown about, and in one of numerous meetings held on the subject, Shelby, no doubt frustrated with corporate politics, turned to Phil Remington and asked him what the distance between the race and production shops at Shelby American was. Remington’s response was “about three hundred and fifty feet,” to which Shelby said, “That’s what we’ll call it–GT350.”

Shelby’s reasoning for such a hasty decision? “The name wouldn’t make the car, and if it is a bad car, the name won’t save it.”

A generic alphanumeric name that signified nothing also had practical applications: Shelby could upgrade and improve the car whenever it wanted without having to change the name and let the competition know what it was up to.