Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda is that rare thing, a car boss that really loves cars: loves driving them, loves racing them and also loves bringing fun cars to market so the rest of us can enjoy them. It’s in large part thanks to Toyoda’s influence that we have the GR86, GR Corolla and GR Yaris, and that even the Prius is now fast and handsome, as well as frugal.
The grandson of company founder Kiichiro Toyoda has been instrumental over the last decade and a bit in turning Toyota into a company that ranked number one for global output, but churned out some very boring cars to get there, into one that understands you can shift a ton of metal and still make that metal more than white goods.
But in a Q&A session at last month’s Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo, Toyoda, who stepped down from his long-time role as CEO and President earlier this year to become Chairman, admitted to a delegation of dealers that he has nightmares that the company might revert to its boring ways.
Akio’s ‘boring’ bad dream and the 2011 Lexus GS
“I constantly fear that Toyota will go back to being an ordinary company,” Toyoda told the crowd. “When that fear spreads to many people, it will be too late. Even with the title of president, it took me 14 years to change Toyota, but things could revert in a flash.”
Related: New Toyota CEO Hints At More GR Sportscars
Toyoda recalled his shock at being told “Lexus is boring!” when the luxury brand unveiled the 2013 GS (seen above) at Pebble Beach in 2011, saying that moment supercharged his determination to make better cars, even when his own engineering teams didn’t believe there was anything that needed changing.
“When I approached the engineering team’s ‘ivory tower’ to give my impressions of our cars, they shut down the conversation, saying, ‘We’ve had no such data or any complaints’,” he remembered.
“Even when I changed tack and asked them to drive something I thought was better for comparison, they replied: ‘They’re the same on paper.’ It was really tough going.”
The company Toyoda inherited when he became president in 2009 was focused on market share and volume, but he told the audience that he sees those successes as results, not targets, while also acknowledging that the company’s strength is linked to its market share.
Lexus goes ‘lectric
Toyoda also touched on how the switch to electrification will change the Lexus brand, and fans’ access to it. Unlike Toyota, which hasn’t set a date for a complete switch to an EV lineup, Lexus is going EV-only in 2035, and that target means not everyone who can currently buy one of the brand’s cars will be able to in future.
“Around a billion people in the world today lack sufficient electricity, including charging and infrastructure constraints,” said Toyoda, who has been vocal about his doubts over the global car industry’s EV push. “This means that while Toyota offers a full global lineup, the regions where Lexus sells will be limited. We must be prepared to face such decisions at some point.”