Toyota's management team is making changes to its lineup. Effective April 1, President Koji Sato will move into the position of vice chairman and the newly established role of chief industry officer, with Operating Officer Kenta Kon taking over as the incoming president.
Is Toyota okay?
A comment like the following also came in via social media, with Tomikawa posing the question to Toyota’s leaders.
――What does the change of president mean for the Celica?
Incoming President Kon
I am sure expectations for this car are incredibly high, and being from the Take Me Out to the Snowland generation, I always wanted a car like the Celica GT-FOUR in the film.
Mr. Sato and Vice President Hiroki Nakajima won’t give me a straight answer about whether it’s going ahead—they simply say, “We’re not telling you” (laughs).
I presume the development is coming along, but I’m afraid I don’t have any details.
Tomikawa
But you will definitely continue to make good cars, right?
President Sato
Making a car because the company has imposed some conditions, or because you’ve been told to do it, is not going to produce a good car.
Great cars come down to passion. As long as the flame of passion doesn’t die out, I believe you can make it happen.
Finally, Tomikawa wrapped up proceedings by posing this question on behalf of Toyota’s employees:
――Is Toyota okay?
President Sato
Through today’s press conference, I hope we’ve been able to convey the real atmosphere at Toyota right now.
Toyota’s management is such that, even if the executive members decide to reshuffle the lineup, the core will not waver. That is the kind of management structure we are committed to building. You can continue to count on Toyota, and we will keep working hard to meet those expectations. Everything is okay.
Incoming President Kon
Everything is fine. We will continue to do our best to make sure that our stakeholders, if not immediately then at some point down the road, can agree that Toyota is doing okay.
The day’s livestream continued until the post-Q&A photo session, with the audio feed still running after the end of the broadcast.
Something similar happened three years ago, when President Sato could be heard breathing a sigh of relief: “I was so nervous.”
What did we capture this time?