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Toyota says president, chairman of scandal-hit Daihatsu unit to step down

TOKYO — Toyota Motor Corp said on Tuesday both the president and chairman of Daihatsu Motor will step down almost a year after the small-car unit said it had rigged collision safety-tests. The departures are among the most drastic changes Daihatsu has made so far, as Toyota seeks to return the brand to its roots as one of Japan's most iconic compact car makers. Toyota faces a potential hit to its reputation from the safety certification lapses at Daihatsu, as well as separate governance issues at truck maker Hino Motors and affiliate Toyota Industries. The scandals at the three companies triggered a rare apology of Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda last month. In a statement, the world's top-selling automaker said its chief executive officer for the Latin America and Caribbean region, Masahiro Inoue, will replace Soichiro Okudaira as Daihatsu's president effective March 1. Daihatsu's chairman, Sunao Matsubayashi, will also step down and will not be replaced, Toyota added. The outgoing Okudaira had worked at Toyota for nearly four decades before becoming president of Daihatsu in 2017, a year after it became a wholly owned Toyota subsidiary. Toyota Chief Executive Koji Sato told reporters, however, that the organizational change at Daihatsu was not carried out as a punishment for the outgoing executives. In volume terms, Daihatsu accounted for 7% of Toyota's total group sales of 11.2 million vehicles in 2023, including those of the luxury Lexus brand and Hino Motors. Given the misconduct over the safety test certification applications, Daihatsu also will be removed from a commercial vehicle partnership known as the Commercial Japan Partnership Technologies (CJPT), the automaker said in a separate statement. The partnership was established in April 2021 by Toyota, Hino and Isuzu Motors to facilitate technology development for commercial vehicles. Suzuki Motor and Daihatsu joined in July the same year. Daihatsu's 10% equity stake in the partnership will be transferred to Toyota, the statement said. (Reporting by Daniel Leussink and Satoshi Sugiyama; Editing by Kim Coghill & Shri Navaratnam and Miral Fahmy) Government/Legal Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Plants/Manufacturing Toyota Daihatsu

Toyota holds onto crown of World's Largest Automaker

Although there were hints and allegations that the Volkswagen Group might have taken the global sales crown for 2014, the final tally puts Toyota at the top with 10.23 million sales in 2014. We should really say it keeps Toyota at the top, since that makes three years in a row the Japanese company has been No. 1. Volkswagen Group came in second with 10.14 million units sold, General Motors in third with 9.92 million units sold. This the first time for both Toyota and Volkswagen to pass 10 million sales in a single year. Toyota, including its Hino and Daihatsu divisions, did it with a three-percent increase in company-wide sales on the back of strong demand in Japan and the US. Its strength in developed markets might be the reason it loses the title this year, though; Toyota forecasts a two-percent gain in sales outside of Japan, but a nine-percent drop in its home market because of a new consumption tax that encouraged buyers to purchase before the end of last year. On top of that, turmoil in Southeast Asian economies like Thailand and Indonesia depressed sales in 2014 and they're facing more headwinds. The company envisions 10.15 million sales in 2015. Volkswagen, on the other hand, "has a jet engine strapped to its back called 'China,'" where Toyota is out-of-sorts. Volkswagen Group sales fell 2.9 percent in the US last year, while Toyota gained 6.2 percent here. But Volkswagen roped in 3.7 million sales in China, a 12-percent increase. Toyota enjoyed a huge bump of 12.5 percent in China, but that only got it to 1.03 million units, missing its yearly target and leading to trouble with its Chinese dealers over unsold inventory. With Toyota on the Chinese sidelines while Volkswagen guns for No. 1 status and pledges more production capacity in China – sales there are expected to top 25 million units this year – it looks like this could be the year the VW Group takes over the lead. That would be three years ahead of its original target of 2018. An analyst in Japan said Toyota is more focused on "keeping profitability than chasing numbers" – profitability is an issue for VW right now – so Toyota might not be back at the top "for [the] coming years." News Source: Bloomberg, Automotive News - sub. req. Earnings/Financials GM Toyota Volkswagen Car Buying Daihatsu sales volkswagen group

Daihatsu reveals Miata-fighting roadster and more for Tokyo Mobility Show

Daihatsu left the U.S. market way back in 1992, but the brand is still going strong in Japan. The company is wholly owned by Toyota now and specializes in building kei cars and trucks, a special class of lightweight compact city cars. These days most kei vehicles are sensible rectangles to maximize passenger or cargo space inside the strict footprint allowed allowed by the class, but Daihatsu proves some fun can still be had.  And few of the concepts say that more than the Daihatsu Vision Copen (pictured at top). Design-wise it's a modern interpretation of the original Copen roadster introduced in 2002, with almost identical overall shape and round head and taillights. However, the original was more of an open top cruiser with practical front-wheel-drive layout. The Vision Copen, on the other hand, is rear-wheel-drive, showing muscular flared wheel arches that the original never did. It's powered by a 1.3-liter engine running on carbon-neutral fuel (whatever that means), a displacement that exceeds kei car regulations. So does the Vision Copen's footprint, which measures 150 inches long and 67 inches wide, almost the size of the Mazda Miata. It would be amazing if Daihatsu actually produced this car, even though it wouldn't be legal to import until 2049 or so, because the world definitely needs more rear-drive sports cars.  Then comes the me:MO, described as a car that will stay with the owner through many stages of life. It looks to be comprised of modular body panels. It's a trick Daihatsu has actually put on a production car, the Copen roadster, with composite fenders and doors that can be swapped with those of different shape or color. The me:MO appears to be an electric vehicle that has modular components on the inside as well, but the company has not released full details just yet.  The Daihatsu Uniform is the distilled essence of the kei car. Boxy and utilitarian but still exuding a bit of funkiness in the design, it was built to accommodate the working men and women of Japan. Vehicles like this usually serve as cargo haulers in dense urban areas where they can fit down extremely narrow alleys. The name derives from the fact that these workers are required to wear uniforms as they deliver everything from Amazon packages to food. The Uniform comes in two flavors, a cargo van and a truck.  The Daihatsu Osanpo is an open-top kei car built for leisurely cruising.