Shoichiro Toyoda
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
Born the eldest son of founder Kiichiro Toyoda, he graduated from Nagoya University's Faculty of Engineering in 1947. He joined Toyota Motor Co. in 1952 as a Director, and in July 1958 chaired the construction committee for the Motomachi plant, a factory dedicated to passenger cars. In June 1981 he moved to become President of Toyota Motor Sales, giving him a career leading both manufacturing and sales. Yet for a member of the founding family his capital backing was thin: in the fiscal year ended November 1974, before he took office, the top 10 shareholders were banks, life insurers, Toyoda Automatic Loom Works (4.41%) and Toyota Motor Sales (2.56%), and the Toyoda family as individuals were not among them.
Selection
In July 1982 he became the first President of Toyota Motor Corporation, formed by the merger of Toyota Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Sales. The merger ratio was 0.75 shares of the manufacturer for each share of the sales company, with Eiji Toyoda, President of the manufacturer, becoming Chairman and Shoichiro Toyoda, President of the sales company, becoming President. Choosing the president from the sales side appears to have served to keep the integration from looking like an absorption by the manufacturer. Eiji had joined in 1936 and Shoichiro in 1952, so it was also a generational change within the founding family.
Initiatives
In February 1984 he established NUMMI, a 50-50 joint venture with GM in California, to test whether the Toyota Production System would work in a North American labor environment. Encouraged by the results, an extraordinary board meeting in July 1985 decided on a wholly owned entry into North America; Kentucky was chosen that December, the local subsidiary TMM was set up in January 1986, and the first Camry rolled off the line in May 1988. In 1989 the luxury brand Lexus was launched in North America, and production bases expanded at home and abroad, with the United Kingdom in December that year and Toyota Motor Kyushu in February 1991.
Career
Career
Toyota Motor Co.
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1952 | Joined as Director |
Toyota Motor Sales
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Jun 1981 | President |
Toyota Motor
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Jul 1982 | President |
| Sep 1992 | Chairman |
| Sep 1992 | Stepped down as President |