Torao Hayashi
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
He moved from plant manager leading the electrical equipment division at Toyota Motor Co.'s Kariya plant to president of the newly spun-off company. Nippondenso was launched in December 1949 as a second company with capital of ¥15 million under Toyota's corporate reconstruction plan. It was the result of Taizo Ishida of Toyoda Automatic Loom Works splitting up Toyoda-related companies to avoid designation as a zaibatsu and carving out the electrical equipment division as Nippondenso. As of June 1955 the top major shareholders were Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, Robert Bosch and Toyota Motor, with Hayashi personally ranked eighth. His capital backing appears to have been limited.
Selection
As the first president, he was entrusted with a company just carved out of Toyota Motor Co. The monetary tightening of the Dodge Line, begun in 1949, hit the auto industry hard, and in May 1950 Nippondenso carried out a restructuring that included cutting its workforce by 30%. With the outbreak of the Korean War that June, business turned favorable. His experience running the electrical equipment shop floor appears to have been the reason he was trusted with the rebuilding.
Initiatives
In 1953 he concluded a technical alliance with Robert Bosch, one of the world's leading electrical component makers, allotting it 10% of the shares. In April 1954 two engineers were sent to Germany, and in August two Bosch engineers came to Kariya. That year the company began making car heaters; in February 1955 injection pumps and spark plugs were added to the alliance's product list, and in 1957 it expanded into car air conditioners. In 1957 it established Aichi Denso to begin producing spark plugs and absorbed it in 1959. In 1961 it became the first auto parts maker to win the Deming Prize.
Career
Career
Denso
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1949 | President |
| 1966 | Stepped down as President |