Toyota Motor Corp, which traditionally makes a majority of its profit in the US, will outline a strategy for growth in emerging markets in a 10-year plan the Japanese automaker is set to release this week, two people familiar with the plan said.
Toyota also plans to cut two vice chairman positions and shrink its board to 17 or fewer members as part of the biggest management shakeup in eight years, according to two people who declined to be identified as the plan is private.
Former president Katsuaki Watanabe will become an advisor without a board vote, and former head of research and development Kazuo Okamoto will move to an affiliate, the people said.
Company president Akio Toyoda will present a “Global Vision 2020” plan on Wednesday to help boost sales a year after the carmaker’s biggest recall crisis. As part of its focus on emerging markets, the carmaker introduced the Etios compact in India in December, which will be modified for sale in China, Thailand and Brazil.
Executive vice president Yukitoshi Funo has dubbed the Etios as the “21st Century Corolla,” a reference to its best-selling compact model. Investors and analysts have called on Toyota to reveal more about plans for next--generation models, shifting production away from Japan and boosting sales of luxury models. The automaker made about 60 percent of its operating profit from North America in the nine-months ending Dec. 31, according to its financial statement.
Toyota’s slimmer board may help it adapt to challenges and changes in the global industry quickly, the people said.
After a global financial crisis and recalls of more than 8 million cars for problems linked to unintended acceleration, Toyota has fallen behind rival Honda Motor Co in terms of profit and operating margin. The company has said it plans to keep capital investments little changed for at least the next five years to cut costs.
With Volkswagen AG aiming to surpass Toyota as the world’s largest carmaker by 2018, and competitors including General Motors Co and Hyundai Motor Co also gaining ground, management has been divided over whether it should be more aggressive or remain cautious, said two Toyota group executives, who declined to be identified.
MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the world’s biggest smartphone chip supplier, yesterday said it plans to double investment in data center-related technologies, including advanced packaging and high-speed interconnect technologies, to broaden the new business’ customer and service portfolios. The chip designer is redirecting its resources to data centers, mainly designing application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC) with artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities for cloud service providers. The data center business is forecast to lead growth in the next three years and become the company’s second-biggest revenue source, replacing chips used in smart devices, MediaTek president Joe Chen (陳冠州) told a media event in Taipei. “Three or four years
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Until US President Donald Trump’s return a year ago, when the EU talked about cutting economic dependency on foreign powers — it was understood to mean China, but now Brussels has US tech in its sights. As Trump ramps up his threats — from strong-arming Europe on trade to pushing to seize Greenland — concern has grown that the unpredictable leader could, should he so wish, plunge the bloc into digital darkness. Since Trump’s Greenland climbdown, top officials have stepped up warnings that the EU is dangerously exposed to geopolitical shocks and must work toward strategic independence — in defense, energy and
Motorists ride past a mural along a street in Varanasi, India, yesterday.
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