The car lovers' festival is underway! After Morizo last year proclaimed himself "an ordinary guy who loves cars," there was much excitement for his 2025 message. But who appeared in his stead?
“At last, I think that I have been able to get back to being an ordinary guy who loves cars. I had always dreamed of the day when I could be like this.”
These were the words of Chairman Akio Toyoda, aka Morizo, at Tokyo Auto Salon 2024, spoken on stage at the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing (TGR) booth. It was his first time attending this festival for car lovers since stepping down as both president of Toyota and chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA).
A year on, Tokyo Auto Salon was back at Makuhari Messe in Chiba (January 10 to 12).
Reporters flocked to the first day’s press conference to see what Morizo would say this year.
In his place, however, they found Yuta Tomikawa in conversation with GAZOO Racing Company President Tomoya Takahashi and ROOKIE Racing drivers Hiroaki Ishiura, Kazuya Oshima, and Daisuke Toyoda.
On January 7 (Japan time), Chairman Toyoda was in the U.S. to announce the latest progress of Woven City. Despite flying straight home, the travel caught up with him, and he was forced to miss Auto Salon.
So instead of one ordinary car-loving guy, the event featured a whole group, albeit slightly younger. (In the end, Akio appeared in a YouTube live chat, insisting he was “alive and well.”)
On stage, the team presented “Morizo’s Top 10 News Stories for 2025”—despite being only ten days into the new year…
Some have already come to pass, while others are hopes for the year ahead. Here they are, starting from number ten! (The press conference begins at 29:46～)