Toyota's New Leader EV Advocate Sato Replaced
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- Internal Toyota EV Advocate Sato replaced by CFO Kenta Kon amid cost pressures
- Leadership change reflects Toyota's strategic shift
- Toyota focuses on lowering break-even point amid tariffs
- Reducing reliance on EV's
Toyoto's internal EV advocate Koji Sato was named Toyota CEO in 2023, a veteran engineer who could give the world’s best-selling automaker a badly needed boost in electric vehicles. But after just three years in the top job, he is being replaced by Chief Financial Officer Kenta Kon, a close ally and former secretary of Chairman Choice Advocate Akio Toyoda.
This management change, announced this month, will see Sato become Toyota's vice chairman and chief industry officer from April, despite record sales and profit and, according to two people familiar with the matter, is regarded by suppliers and investors as a sharp and talented leader. Yet he will have had one of the shortest tenures on record for a Toyota boss.