Eiji Toyoda
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
The son of Heikichi Toyoda, younger brother of Sakichi Toyoda, he was a cousin of founder Kiichiro Toyoda. After graduating from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Tokyo Imperial University's Faculty of Engineering, he joined the automobile division of Toyoda Automatic Loom Works in April 1936 and, on Kiichiro's orders, opened a research lab in Shibaura, Tokyo, where he took charge of radiators and teardown studies of the German DKW car. He became Managing Director in July 1950. He was an engineer who rose from the design floor. Yet for a member of the founding family his capital backing was thin: in the fiscal years ended November 1970 and November 1974, during his tenure, the top 10 shareholders were banks, life insurers and Toyoda Automatic Loom Works (around 4.4%), and the Toyoda family as individuals were not among them.
Selection
In October 1967, after President Fukio Nakagawa died suddenly, he was promoted from Executive Vice President. After the two terms of Taizo Ishida and Fukio Nakagawa, he was the first president from the Toyoda family in 17 years, since Kiichiro Toyoda. He took office just after the first Corolla rolled off the line at the Takaoka plant in September 1966 and mass production of the people's car got under way. Sales for the fiscal year ended November 1966, before he took office, were ¥293.8 billion. Asked at his inaugural press conference why he had been chosen, he replied, "I think I was chosen because I am suited to be president."
Initiatives
Even in downturns he made capital investments ahead of rivals, preparing capacity in advance of demand. Toyota formed business tie-ups with Hino Motors in October 1966 and Daihatsu Motor in November 1967. In the 1970s, while also serving as Chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, he stood on the front line of emissions regulation, and after a two-year extension met the fiscal 1976 standard capping NOx at 0.25 grams per kilometer across all models. In the first oil crisis he switched from production cuts in January to March 1974 to increases in April. Talks on joint production with Ford, his answer to U.S. trade friction, broke down in 1981, and in March 1982 he reached a broad agreement on a joint venture with GM.
Career
Career
Toyoda Automatic Loom Works
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1936 | Joined |
| May 1937 | 刈谷本社・監査改良部 (translation pending) |
Toyota Motor Co.
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Jul 1950 | Managing Director |
| Oct 1967 | President |
| Jul 1982 | Chairman |
| Jul 1982 | Stepped down as President |