President Sato

With all of that in mind, let me share what kind of year we need to make this.

Based on what we have done thus far, we need to move on from the work we have all done in strengthening our foundations and make this year an intentional pause.

Over the past two years, we have all worked hard to create an environment to free up some time and focus more on what we need to do and what we want to do.

I truly believe it was a meaningful time, especially at our production sites, during which many frontline members made various improvements.

However, there was also one thing that we were not able to fully do.

That is to increase the earning power we need in order to keep doing what we want to do. Without that earning power, we cannot make cars or take on challenges for the future.

At last year’s Japan Mobility Show, we were able to present various future possibilities.

But at the same time, I think we were reminded of the fact that we can never take things for granted.

What we do today will determine our earning power for supporting the future.

Personally, I feel that I, too, did not do enough.

That is precisely why, this year, we must first take a hard look at our true capabilities. Having done that, I want all of us to work together to raise our “net rate of work.”

At the core, I believe this is about making ever-better cars.

It is because products—cars—are at our core that our customers choose Toyota.
I believe that unless everyone working at Toyota continues to make efforts, we will lose that strength.

Thinking of that reminds me of something.

It was the moment in April 2009, when I first heard the words “Let’s make ever-better cars!”

We had fallen into the red for the first time since our founding days. What was it that Chairman Toyoda, in taking over as president, conveyed to us in the face of such severity?

I wanted us to reflect on that together. I would like to take a moment here to share that video. Please watch.

President Sato

What did you think?

“Let’s make ever-better cars!”

My reaction when I heard those words at that time was that I wanted to know what an ever-better car was supposed to be and what the president wanted us to make—without knowing that, we couldn’t do it.

That was how I honestly felt.

But because it was difficult to understand, we ended up figuring it out together.

We thought about it and struggled, thinking, “Well, let’s just try something.” And so we began searching for an answer.

As we did so, then-President Toyoda told us the same thing he had always said in the genba when I worked with him on various development projects: “Let’s just make cars with good fundamentals.”

That focus led to our TNGA initiative and, eventually, to our current lineup of long-selling cars and to ever-better motorsports-bred cars.

At the time, I think that Chairman Toyoda wanted to say more. He no doubt had many ideas in mind. But he deliberately did not specify exactly what kind of cars he wanted us to make.

Why was that? Looking back, I think it was because he believed in the thinking power of the genba.

I think it was because the chairman strongly believed that there were always wise and skillful people at Toyota, and by drawing out their passion and ideas, he was determined to bring back what makes Toyota what it is.

Our DNA can be summed up in the words “Good thinking, good products.”

This company-wide motto was established in 1953, when Toyota had neither money nor a list of achievements, with a desire to create good products based on the wisdom of people.

Value thinking power and pursue high quality and affordability.
I believe this is the Toyota Way of pursuing kaizen and taking on new challenges in all of our workplaces, and an important mindset as we embark on this year of intentional pause.

I sincerely hope that each of you will remember this every time you see the “Good thinking, good products” banner at one of our plants.

Let us return to our starting point and ask ourselves what it means to make ever-better cars.

Let us all think and struggle together, turning such thoughts into action.

President Sato

And there is one more thing.

Looking back, as an engineer at the time, I thought that making ever-better cars meant technological development.

Somewhere along the way, I believed that it was about us in engineering doing our best.

And then, when I first assumed the role of president, I thought that as a leader I had to clearly define what to do, take the lead, and work hard at that myself.

However, as I ran into various challenges and struggles, I came to realize that I was wrong about my role.

We have many members who are continuously making efforts at our plants and development worksites to adapt to change.

We have many members overseas who are on the front lines protecting our bonds with our customers.

And we have many members in all workplaces who support the very foundation of car-making.

I visited many different facilities. The more I visited the front lines, the more I learned about the hardships, sincere efforts, and feelings of our members there, things that had never been visible to me before.

Car-making is something that we all do together, transcending divisions, companies, and regions. All of us, together…

And, regardless of the circumstances, we have people who keep working hard, step by step.

I have come to deeply feel that such efforts embody our frontline capabilities, which are the strength of Toyota.

That is why, in this year of intentional pause, I believe that my role and our executive team’s role is to connect everyone beyond individual functions and make it easier for everyone to work—all so that we can maximize our frontline capabilities. We will work hard to make this happen.

That is precisely why we want to know more about your hard work and focus on creating an environment in which everyone can devote themselves to doing what they want to do.

For that, I want to faithfully fulfill my role, in whatever form it takes.

From here on out, there will be many things that we need to do, and probably many things that we will need to decide to stop or give up on.

Many things may not go as planned.

Even so, to move forward, we must struggle. To set an example worth following, I will do my best and work hard.

I am sure many of you have colleagues who are watching and learning from you.

Let us think through our challenges and struggle together.

A year of intentional pause…

We need to ask ourselves what kind of future we want to leave behind.

Toyota’s “TO YOU” vision is based on the idea of doing work to bring smiles to the faces of each of our customers.

We make 10 million cars a year. Yet no two cars are the same.

Even in the case of something as simple as tightening a screw, the car we just made, and the next one will be delivered to different customers.

We put our heart into each vehicle for the smiles of each customer. I think that is what Toyota’s “Producing Happiness for All” is all about.

Each of you has a different role.

Every improvement we make to our car-making, our multi-pathway initiatives, and new mobility initiatives—we will link all to our customers’ smiles.

As we keep those ideals in mind, over the year ahead I want to think carefully about what we can do for the smiles of the future and act with intention.

Let us all work hard together to make ever-better cars and to change the future of cars!

Thank you very much for listening.