Toyota , reeling from its first-ever fiscal year loss last year, will apparently shake things up at its Japanese headquarters by replacing 40 percent of its senior management – and a report indicates that the automaker might do the same in North America. The changes will be the first implemented by new CEO Akio Toyoda, grandson of the automaker’s founder, when he takes over next month.
According to the Financial Times, the changes will signal a major departure from current CEO Katsuaki Watanabe, who will become vice chairman of the automaker.
“Some people are calling this a revolution or even a coup d’état ,” Koji Endo, an analyst Credit Suisse, told the publication. “The size of the [financial] loss is huge. Somebody has to take responsibility for that.”
Toyota lost about $4.6 billion last year, though its cash reserve puts it in a stronger position than Detroit rivals General Motors and Chrysler .
Half of Toyota’s board of directors will be replaced, according to the automaker.
Future CEO Toyoda will also reinstate several former managers who had left the company for other positions, including former head of U.S. sales and marketing Yoshimi Inaba, who currently runs the Nagoya airport in Japan. Inaba is perhaps best known to Americans as the developer of Toyota’s Project Genesis, which ultimately led to the creation of the youth-oriented Scion brand.
