New Toyota chairman appointed

Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) executive, Takeshi Uchiyamada

The changes were ratified on Friday, 14 June 2013, at a shareholder meeting in Japan after being announced in March by TMC president Akio Toyoda. Toyoda said Uchiyamada was the "father of the Prius", the mass-production hybrid vehicle.

He described Uchiyamada as "an engineer that has opened the road to the future of automobiles through advanced hybrid technology."

"As vice chairman, his responsibilities have centered on the field of technology," Toyoda said.

"As a chairman with an engineering background, he will lead overall Toyota management with the following two questions in mind: i) What is it that Toyota should do to contribute to global society? and ii) What is it that Toyota should do to create innovative technologies that can contribute to society?

"In line with his appointment as vice chairman of the Japan Business Federation, also known as Keidanren, his activities will span a wider field."

Toyoda also paid tribute to Cho, who served as president from 2009, saying he provided valuable advice, based on his vast experience and deep passion for Toyota.

"He is very much a person who has passed on to the Toyota of today the DNA of a company steeped in the ways of monozukuri (conscientious manufacturing)," Toyoda said.