The survival of the Japanese auto industry requires an honest, candid relationship between Toyota and its suppliers--this was the defining message behind speeches given by President Koji Sato and Incoming President Kenta Kon addressing suppliers.
What Incoming President Kon must do
Incoming President Kon
Hello everyone, I am Kenta Kon. Thank you very much for joining us today.
As you heard from Mr. Sato, I will be serving as the new captain of Toyota’s leadership team. All of us on the team will keep striving to do our best, and we sincerely ask for your ongoing support.
The environment in which we operate continues to grow more challenging.
Going by the figures released in our financial results, some may feel that Toyota is in a secure and comfortable position, but that is certainly not the case.
The foundations of Toyota’s competitiveness are clearly weakening.
During the global financial crisis, Toyota fell into the red for the first time in its history, forcing us to abandon many projects.
As we withdrew from Formula 1 and NUMMI, making tough decisions that caused pain to others was an almost daily task for Akio Toyoda, the company’s president at the time.
He said the following:
“Rapid growth inconveniences many stakeholders if it is followed by a rapid fall. When times are good, everyone does well. But I want Toyota to be the kind of company that can support the supply chain by standing firm, especially in tough times.”
As Mr. Toyoda’s secretary, I was able to observe his work more closely than most.
For that reason, I know there is only one thing I must do right now.
Ensure that we never cause trouble for our suppliers or the many other stakeholders who place their trust in Toyota.
The only way to achieve this, I believe, is to rebuild our weakened competitive foundations and restore Toyota’s strength.
“Rebuild our weakened competitive foundations and restore Toyota’s strength” in order to “never cause trouble for our stakeholders,” said Incoming President Kon, who is focused on improving the break-even point.
During the interim financial results briefing for FY2026, he flagged the increasing break-even point as a key challenge, while at the recent Labor-Management Discussions he stated that “improving our earnings structure is an issue that cannot wait.”
But what convictions will guide these efforts? Incoming President Kon shared an anecdote that reminded him of where Toyota all started.
Lessons from Chairman Toyoda
Incoming President Kony
I currently work at Woven by Toyota, where a comment from one of my international colleagues really gave me pause.
“Outside Toyota, I don’t think any other company acts with as much care for its customers and society. With that kind of philosophy, Toyota must succeed. It feels as though Toyota itself is forgetting that, and that frustrates me to no end.”
His comment reminded me of the company’s origins.
Kiichiro Toyoda sought to bring prosperity to Japan by establishing an automobile industry. Inspired by his vision, our earliest suppliers took on the challenge of making cars.
Bringing these suppliers together, Kiichiro laid out the parts of a dismantled engine and asked them to take whatever they were able to make. “The world of automobiles is uncharted territory,” he told them. “Our existing loom and textile technologies may prove to be of no use. We must start from the individual parts, one by one.
It was Akio Toyoda who taught me that this was Toyota’s starting point.
Toyota is more than just Toyota Motor Corporation.
And it also extends beyond Japan.
We stand together with our carmaking suppliers around the world. This, I learned, is what we mean by Team Toyota.
We must succeed, together.
I will personally visit the genba to see the face of every hard-working employee, listen to what they have to say, and revise Toyota’s practices and structures, to make changes that they could not achieve on their own.
I will personally decide where to draw the line, and take action, to ensure we succeed.
I would like everyone here to also dedicate themselves to boosting competitiveness. To become strong enough to succeed on the global stage.
That, I truly believe, will deliver success for Team Toyota.
No hierarchies
Incoming President Kon
I learned that Taizo Ishida, known as “the Great Banto of Toyota,” believed Toyota’s relationship with its suppliers must be “symbiotic, like two hearts beating as one,” and that we must never lose sight of the spirit of co-prosperity.
At the same time, he also said that “solidarity with suppliers is certainly not the product of compromises borne of sentimentality or indulgence.”
Each side drives the other to grow stronger. In this way, we become stronger together.
In such a disciplined relationship, no hierarchies exist in the development or production genba.
Through honest, candid communication, and through my own actions, I hope to build trusting partnerships with each of you here.
I look forward to your continued support.
Growing stronger together and prevailing together as Team Toyota, a group of professionals that engages in an honest, candid way to overcome the challenges that lie ahead—this was the message that resonated throughout his speech.
The speeches by President Sato and Incoming President Kon were followed by a supplier Q&A session that will be featured in a future Toyota Times article.