Katsuaki Watanabe
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
He joined Toyota Motor Co. in April 1964. Starting in personnel and purchasing, he came up through procurement, became General Manager of the Corporate Planning Division in January 1992, and later served as head of the Motomachi plant. He became a Director in September 1992, Managing Director in June 1997 and Executive Vice President in June 2001. He was a president who rose not from production engineering or sales but from the side that builds cost.
Selection
In June 2005 he succeeded Fujio Cho as President. During Cho's tenure, consolidated net sales grew from ¥12,749.0 billion in the fiscal year ended March 1999 to ¥18,551.5 billion in the fiscal year ended March 2005, and the expansion course was firmly established. Operating income for the fiscal year ended March 2005, the year before he took office, was ¥1,672.2 billion. As Toyota chased General Motors in global sales, it chose an Executive Vice President who knew the practical work of purchasing and cost. The appointment appears to have put maintaining profits through cost reduction ahead of the speed of expansion.
Initiatives
He ran the company with a thorough focus on cost reduction while carrying on the expansion course from the Cho era. In March 2006 Toyota signed a business alliance with Fuji Heavy Industries (now Subaru). In the fiscal year ended March 2008 it posted consolidated net sales of ¥26,289.2 billion and operating income of ¥2,270.3 billion, growing to a scale that rivaled General Motors in global unit sales. After the Lehman shock he squeezed out ¥340.0 billion through cost improvements, while exempting R&D spending in environment and safety from cuts and continuing to invest.
Career
Career
Toyota Motor
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Apr 1964 | Joined |
| Jan 1992 | General Manager, Corporate Planning Department |
| Sep 1992 | Director |
| Jun 1997 | Managing Director |
| Jun 1999 | Senior Managing Director |
| Jun 2001 | Executive Vice President |
| Jun 2005 | President |
| Jun 2009 | Stepped down as President |