Toyota’s incoming CEO is optimistic about electric vehicles

TOKYO – Koji Sato, who has been named the next president of Japan’s leading automaker Toyota, on Monday unveiled a management team he said will lead an aggressive push towards electric vehicles.

Sato emphasized that “electrification” is a key theme for his team and promised to develop an all-new next-generation electric vehicle by 2026.

That will be a Lexus, while Toyota Motor Corp. will also beef up all EV model offerings, Sato said.

“Lexus will lead the move,” he told reporters at a hastily called news conference in Tokyo. “I see myself as the captain of the football team.”

In a presentation, Sato listed the different leaders, each with different responsibilities, such as: B. CO2 neutrality, safety technology as well as the monitoring of regions such as North America and Asia.

The selection of Sato, currently Toyota’s chief branding officer, as the next chief executive was announced last month. The new leadership will take the helm on April 1st.

Toyota, which makes the Prius hybrid and Camry sedan, has billed the move as an effort to keep up with social changes like electrification. It was sometimes seen as lagging behind its competitors in electric vehicles.

The company’s success with hybrids that have both a battery and a gas engine, and hydrogen fuel cells, may be partly behind this perception.

Sato echoed this view, noting that Toyota intends to reduce emissions with models that are already widely available. Most vehicles on the road today run on petrol, he noted.

Toyota officials have always said they have BEV technology, which stands for “battery electric vehicles” or pure electric vehicles. But this market has so far been dominated by companies like Tesla, Japanese rival Nissan and BYD from China.

“We’ve been working on developing BEVs, but perceptions may not have reflected that well,” he said.

Toyota will also build smarter cars that are safer and more fun, Sato said, implying they will connect to the internet and offer other entertainment features.

With the management reshuffle, Toyota’s CEO and President Akio Toyoda, a grandson of the company’s founder, will become chairman. Toyoda did not show up for Monday’s announcement.

Sato has also overseen the Lexus luxury division and Toyota Motorsport. The appointments are subject to shareholder approval, which is scheduled for the company’s next annual general meeting.

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Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama