Post Daihatsu scandal - major shakeup of top jobs, Toyota could manage emerging market business

In the wake of the recent safety scandals at Daihatsu, parent company Toyota Motor Corporation has announced significant changes in top management and future plans for Daihatsu.

To address the management issues and prevent further recurrence, Toyota has announced several key appointments to Daihatsu's Board of Directors, effective 1-March 2024, to reform and revitalise Daihatsu as a 'mobility company centred on compact vehicles'.

The company stated, “To rebuild Daihatsu, we believe that management must go to the front lines, carefully listen to the opinions of the people there, and create a system that enables management to restore sovereignty to the workplace. Based on this, we considered what to do and made decisions from the perspective of putting the right person in the right place."

Also read: Daihatsu scandal: Company could lose up to USD 700 million; troubles are only beginning

The shakeup sees 5 senior management members either resign or be reappointed from their current positions:

• Chairman: Sunao Matsubayashi (Resigned)
• President: Soichiro Okudaira (Resigned)
• Director, Sales & Customer Service: Yusuke Takeda (Reappointed as Chief Officer)
• Director, Corp. Management: Toshinori Edamoto (Reappointed as Chief Officer)
• Director Masahiro Yamamoto (Resigned)

The post of Chairman will be also abolished; the following senior management members will now be appointed to their new roles:

• President: Masahiro Inoue (Ex-CEO of Toyota Latin America)
• Executive Vice President: Masanori Kuwata (Ex-Lexus International Co. and Toyota Motor Kyushu)
• Director: Keiko Yanagi (Ex-DCO Toyota Customer First Promotion Group)

Plans moving forward

Following Toyota’s initial statement on 20-Dec 2023, Daihatsu has resumed production and shipments of the Toyota Probox and Mazda Familia vans at Daihatsu's Kyoto Plant as of yesterday.

The root cause ‘was that Daihatsu placed a burden on its workplaces that exceeded their capacities’.

Going forward under the new structure, Toyota will hold dialogue both internally within Daihatsu and its stakeholders and announce Daihatsu's new structure and management policies within the fiscal year.

Also read: Daihatsu: Will compensate 423 domestic suppliers; currently assessing total impact for production stoppage

However, a few critical actions have been announced by the President of Toyota, Koji Sato.

Sato said, “As for its (Daihatsu’s) overseas businesses, we will consider in detail how to change Daihatsu's planning, development, and production to being outsourced from Toyota”.

This likely relates to the Toyota-Daihatsu Emerging Market Car Company (EMCC) which handles product and business planning as well as product development of Toyota-brand vehicles that are sold in emerging markets.

The EMCC, through Daihatsu, could previously make proposals and devise product and business strategies for Toyota-brand vehicles in emerging markets. The EMCC also directly involves Perodua, which plays a central role in the R&D efforts for EMCC, even for models that won’t be sold in Malaysia.

Under the new reshuffle, Toyota could play a leadership role in the EMCC and/or directly be involved with the development and production of EMCC products.

Koji Sato also further echoed the words of Toyota Chairman, Akio Toyoda, who recently pledged safety and security as the top priority and to ensure measures to prevent recurrence based on the three pledges of Culture Reform, Management Reform, and Monozukuri (production) and Kotozukuri (value creation) Reform.

Also read: Toyota Group unveil new shared vision; Akio Toyoda vows to lead reforms after string of safety scandals