Posts Tagged ‘Akio Toyoda’
Weak yen, cost cutting and strong sales boost results.
by Joseph Szczesny on May.08, 2013
Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda said the company still has work to do in spite of big profits last quarter.
The weakening of the Japanese yen gave Toyota’s quarterly profit a boost as it prepares for a new product offensive in key markets in China, Europe and North America.
Toyota profits more than doubled to 313.9 billion yen or $3.2 billion as cost cuts and better sales made an impact while the declining value of the yen gave fresh impetus to the company’s turnaround.
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“Toyota has recovered much of the market share lost due to the recalls and natural disaster,” said Alec Gutierrez, senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book.
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Tags: Akio Toyoda, Camry, Corolla, TheDetroitBureau.com., Toyota Corolla, Toyota's CEO Akio Toyoda, best-selling car, joseph szczesny, thedetroitbureau, toyota, toyota Camry
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GM comes in a close second for Q1, VW close behind.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Apr.24, 2013
Akio Toyoda with the new Lexus ES.
Toyota maintained its title as world’s best-selling automaker for the first quarter of 2013 – though the gap began to close as the Japanese maker struggled to regain its momentum in the critical Chinese market.
The industry giant — which regained its sales crown last year after a disastrous loss of production in 2011 due to Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami — reports selling 2.43 million vehicles between January and March. But that was a 2.2% decline. General Motors maintained its second-place position at 2.36 million vehicles, but closed much of the gap with a 3.6% increase.
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Volkswagen, which finished 2012 in third-place, maintained that podium position for the first quarter after a 5.1% increasing in global demand brought its sales to 2.27 million. VW officials have openly set a goal of becoming the world’s number one maker before the end of this decade.
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Tags: Akio Toyoda, GM sales, VW sales, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, thedetroitbureau, toyota china, toyota global sales leader, toyota number one, toyota sales, toyota sales q1 2013
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Toyota luxury marque trying to re-think what future luxury buyers will want.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Apr.19, 2013
Mark Templin, Jim Lentz and Akio Toyoda at the Friday news conference in New York.
Lopsided exchange rates and potential natural disasters are two reasons why Toyota officials said they plan to shift production of the Lexus ES from Japan to the U.S. during a news conference in New York earlier today – but TheDetroitBureau.com has learned of yet another reason. The Kyushu plant currently producing the Lexus sedan will need to make room for an all-new model the luxury maker is getting ready to bring to market.
While Jim Lentz, Toyota’s top North American executive declined to identify that new model, sources indicate it is likely to be a compact crossover filling a niche below the current RX line. Lentz did say Lexus expects it could yield more than the 50,000 units of annual demand the ES currently generates.
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He also hinted, that this new model and other possibly offerings Lexus is looking at are part of the brand’s push to shift focus from the Baby Boomers who currently dominate its customer ranks to the next generation of luxury buyers. “We’re always looking at the luxury business which will change over time,” explained Lentz during a one-on-one conversation with TheDetroitBureau.com. “The consumption of luxury and what it means to Boomers may be very different for Gen-Y. We need to prepare ourselves for what younger luxury buyers will want.”
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Tags: Akio Toyoda, auto news, car news, compact lexus crossover, jim lentz, lexus cuv, lexus es, lexus es production, lexus es us production, lexus news, lexus products, mark templin, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, small luxury cars, thedetroitbureau, toyota news
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Lexus ES to move to Georgetown plant by 2015.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Apr.19, 2013
Coming at you. Toyota will be building the newly updated Lexus ES at its Georgetown, Kentucky plant.
Toyota Motor Co. is expected to announce Friday plans to invest more than $500 million in its Georgetown, Kentucky plant to move production of one of its Lexus luxury vehicles to the U.S. for the first time.
The world’s largest automaker already produces more than half of the vehicles it sells in the U.S. at various North American assembly plants. But it has, until now, limited production of its Lexus line almost exclusively to Japanese factories. Though the RX crossover is now produced in Canada, the Lexus ES will become the first luxury model – and the 11th Toyota vehicle assembled in the U.S.
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Toyota is the last of the Japanese “Big Three” to move at least some luxury car production to the States. But like rivals Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co., it has been hollowing out production in the home Japanese market due to concerns about exchange rates – as well as potential production issues underscored by the March 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami that all but shut down the maker’s operations for much of the following nine months.
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Tags: Akio Toyoda, auto news, car news, jim lentz, lexus es, lexus es georgetown, lexus georgetown, lexus news, lexus us, lexus us production, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, thedetroitbureau, toyota news, toyota us, toyota us production
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Lentz running North American ops; former GM exec Hogan joins Toyota board.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Mar.06, 2013
From sales to manufacturing, Toyota's Jim Lentz will now run all operations in the Americas.
In an unexpected announcement, Toyota has announced a major shake-up in its global management structure that will significantly increase the role of the North American market – and senior U.S. executives, in particular.
The realignment positions Jim Lentz, who has been the top American executive at the giant Japanese maker, as its number one boss for all of North America. Meanwhile, the current U.S. head of the Lexus luxury brand will now become managing officer for Lexus International. And Mark Hogan, a former General Motors senior executive, will become the first American ever on the 76-year-old Toyota Motor Co.’s board of directors.
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“These changes will help us to achieve sustainable growth and realize our global vision by giving more responsibility to each region, including our North and South American operations, so that they may develop and deliver even better products and offer the best service to our customers,” declared Akio Toyoda, TMC’s global chief executive and grandson of the maker’s founder.
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Tags: Akio Toyoda, Toyota shake-up, auto news, car news, jim lentz, mark hogan, mark templin, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, steve st. angelo, thedetroitbureau, toyota global management, toyota management, toyota news, toyota recalls, toyota safety
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GM slides to second, VW in third.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Jan.28, 2013
The success of the latest Toyota Camry helped the maker regain its global sales crown.
Toyota has officially reclaimed its global sales crown, the maker confirming it produced 9.75 million vehicles in 2012.
That was slightly ahead of a preliminary tally Toyota forecast as the year came to a close and locks it in first place ahead of General Motors, which sold 9.29 million vehicles. Volkswagen, at 9.1 million, came in third for 2012.
Toyota’s sales were slightly lower than the company had projected earlier in the year, the shortfall reflecting the ongoing dispute between Japan and China over a chain of small, uninhabited islands both nations claim.
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In customary fashion, Toyota officials downplayed the sales results. “Rather than going after numbers, we hope to make fine products, one by one, to keep out customers satisfied. The numbers are just a result of our policy. And our policy will continue unchanged,” Toyota spokeswoman Shino Yamada told the Associated Press.
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Tags: Akio Toyoda, GM sales, auto news, car news, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, thedetroitbureau, toyota china, toyota china boycott, toyota global sales, toyota gm, toyota news, toyota recalls, toyota safety, toyota sales, toyota sales crown, volkswagen sales
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MR2 Successor also reportedly in the works.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Nov.12, 2012
Toyota's FT-86 Concept II could serve as the platform for the long-lamented Supra. But might Toyota turn to Tesla to help develop a battery drivetrain?.
“Passion” is a word one hears a lot in conversations with Toyota executives these days, up to and including President Akio Toyoda, who points to recent introductions like the Scion FR-S and Lexus GS to underscore his intentions.
But it’s beginning to look like that’s just the beginning of Toyota’s performance aspirations, with new reports suggesting there could be at least a couple more performance machines on the Japanese giant’s horizons – notably in the form of all-new versions of the long-lamented Supra and MR-2 models.
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But, as the new FR-S demonstrates, Toyota may take a very different approach in bringing those – or other – performance models back to life. One very strong possibility is that it could turn outside for help, perhaps to the likes of California-based Tesla Motors to provide a battery-based drivetrain for a new Supra.
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Tags: Akio Toyoda, Scion FR-S, TheDetroitBureau.com., Toyota 86, auto news, car news, electric sports cars, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, subaru brz, thedetroitbureau, toyota electric, toyota hybrids, toyota mr2, toyota news, toyota rav4 ev, toyota supra, toyota tesla
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Toyota CEO says he wants more passion and this new sports car delivers.
by Bryan Laviolette on Nov.08, 2012
The Scion FR-S fills a noticeable void in the market - the affordable rear-wheel drive sports car with somewhat useful interior space..
In recent years, if you wanted a true sports car, your only choices were to accept a car based a front-wheel drive econobox or cash in your 401(k) to buy a real sports car putting its power to the rear wheels.
No more. Subaru and Toyota – a seemingly unlikely pair to create this car – got together to develop what is essentially the Holy Grail of fun cars – the affordable sports car.
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Think about it. Subaru, known for its variety of sensible all-wheel drive cars with just one performance-oriented model, the WRX, wants to build a car that is completely out of its element, a RWD sports car. Knowing it couldn’t justify the investment without a partner, the small Japanese automaker approached giant Toyota, known recently more for its fuel-sipping hybrids, but with a somewhat forgotten history of performance machines.
Together, they created a masterpiece, a car to be celebrated by everyone who enjoys driving, but wasn’t born with a trust fund in his mouth.
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Tags: Akio Toyoda, RWD Toyota, RWD Toyota sports car, RWD sports car, TheDetroitBureau.com., Toyota FR-S, Toyota FR-S review, Toyota passion, Toyota's CEO, Toyota's CEO Akio Toyoda, akio toyota, auto review, bryan laviolette, car review, mazda miata, rear-wheel-drive Toyota, rear-wheel-drive sports car, subaru brz, toyota sports car
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Toyota pumps some passion into its big sedan.
by Joseph Szczesny on Oct.30, 2012
Toyota rethinks its design language with the new 2013 Avalon sedan.
This story has been updated to include pricing and other information.
For a brand long known for high quality but plain vanilla design, Toyota sent shock waves through the industry when it revealed an all-new version of the big Avalon sedan earlier this year. The new, full-size sedan is perhaps the single best example yet that Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda was serious when he promised to put more “passion” into the brand.
The long-popular Avalon has been completely revamped for 2013 and is now the most “American” car the Japanese maker has ever developed, the striking new design emerging from Toyota’s styling center in Newport Beach, California, with the maker’s engineering center in Ann Arbor, Michigan taking lead on that end of the product. Production will be U.S.-based, as well.
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Avalon is clearly part of Toyota’s quest for younger buyers, the 2013 remake boasting a fresh exterior design that moves away from the conservative and cautious approach that had characterized earlier versions of the big sedan. But looks aside, we set out to see if the 2013 Toyota Avalon really lives up to all the hype as we headed to California for our first test drive.
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Tags: 2013 toyota avalon, 2013 toyota avalon review, Akio Toyoda, auto news, auto reviews, car news, car reviews, full-size design reviews, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, thedetroitbureau, toyota avalon, toyota avalon review, toyota design, toyota news, toyota reviews
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Sales up 28% for first 9 months of 2012.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Oct.26, 2012
Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda may miss his ambitious sales goal for 2012 but still regain the global automotive sales crown.
Toyota is fast recovering from last year’s Japanese earthquake and tsunami, a disaster that left it struggling for inventory for most of 2011.
And while the maker has suffered additional setbacks this year – including a boycott in China and its largest single recall ever due to a vehicle fire hazard – it is rapidly regaining momentum, global sales up 28% for the first nine months of 2012. That puts it ahead of General Motors and could let the Japanese giant the worldwide automotive sales crown it relinquished last year.
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In all, Toyota sold 7.4 million vehicles behind January 1 and September 30. By comparison, General Motors sold just 6.95 million cars, trucks and crossovers during the same period, its own sales up a far more modest 2.5%.
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Tags: Akio Toyoda, GM sales, auto news, car news, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, thedetroitbureau, toyota china, toyota china boycott, toyota global sales, toyota gm, toyota news, toyota on track for sales crown, toyota recalls, toyota safety, toyota sales, volkswagen sales
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