Fukio Nakagawa
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
He graduated from Kobe Higher Commercial School (now Kobe University) in 1921, joined Mitsui Bank and spent 29 years as a banker. In 1950 he was sent from his post as head of Teikoku Bank's Osaka office to Toyota Motor Co., then still recovering from a cash-flow collapse, as Senior Managing Director, and became Executive Vice President in 1953. Mitsui Bank was one of Toyota's lenders and, as of November 1960, still a top shareholder with 2.9% of the stock. He came from finance rather than engineering or sales, and his backing lay not in his own capital but in the relationship with the bank.
Selection
In August 1961, as Taizo Ishida became Chairman, he rose from Executive Vice President to President, the first former banker to lead Toyota. Sales for the fiscal year ended November 1960, the year before he took office, were ¥102.7 billion. Investment in mass production of passenger cars was getting into full swing, and the amount of money the company could raise was becoming a constraint on management. The appointment put in place someone who knew the lending side.
Initiatives
The theme of his tenure was the mass-market car. After the 1960 Corona and the 1961 Publica suffered repeated defects, development of a new car in the 1,000cc class began in 1962 with Tatsuo Hasegawa as chief engineer. In May 1965 the company began acquiring about 1.25 million square meters of land, and in September 1966 the first Corolla rolled off the line at the Takaoka plant. Concentrated production of one model per plant drove down costs and shifted the axis of competition from sales networks to the scale and speed of capital investment.
Career
Career
Teikoku Bank
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1921 | Joined |
Toyota Motor Co.
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1950 | Senior Managing Director |
| Aug 1961 | President |
| Oct 1967 | Died in office |
| Oct 1967 | Stepped down as President |