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.
HORMUZ ISSUE: The US president said he expected crude prices to drop at the end of the war, which he called a ‘minor excursion’ that could continue ‘for a little while’ The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait started reducing oil production, as the near-closure of the crucial Strait of Hormuz ripples through energy markets and affects global supply. Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) is “managing offshore production levels to address storage requirements,” the company said in a statement, without giving details. Kuwait Petroleum Corp said it was lowering production at its oil fields and refineries after “Iranian threats against safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.” The war in the Middle East has all but closed Hormuz, the narrow waterway linking the Persian Gulf to the open seas,
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