這是幾月前甚或半年前的故事。最近該公司獲利頗豐。電動車並不比氣電車暢銷。
66 Year Old Toyota CEO Resigns; Says, "I'm Too Old"
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Recently, the CEO of Toyota, and grandson of the founder of the car company Akio Toyoda announced that he is stepping down as head of the auto giant. He believes he is too old to understand the consumer sentiments of this generation.
Many were shocked because in the last 14 years, he took the company from a highly conservative, cautious but quality conscious company, to a bold, ambitious, trendy and adventurous one. Reinventing the brand to appeal to younger consumers.
When he took over as CEO, he had a tough time convincing Toyota engineers that he can run the company because first, he has a law and business background; second, he was not a top race driver.
He was told by members of the board that Toyota engineers would not respect him and would not take his ideas serious unless he trains as a top race driver, which will provide him with background knowledge of how a car engine works.
He obeyed, and started training as a race driver, after months of highly intensive training, he qualified and started taking part in race events.. He participated as a driver at events including the 2009 24 Hours Nürburgring race employing the pseudonym Morizo Kinoshita.
He reached the 87th position overall and the fourth position in his class with his LF-A Prototype No. 14. It was the success of the prototype LF-A which helped in the promotion of sports models including the Lexus IS F and Lexus LFA at auto races.
In 2016, Toyoda approved the project that would result in the GR Yaris; during the development of that car, Toyoda (as Morizo) served as a test driver.
Morizo crashed the first test car during a mid-winter test drive at a Hokkaido track; after exiting the car on his own, he remarked that he did not "like the feel of it". Engineers went back to the drawing board.
His love for racing resurrected the Toyota Supra (GR Supra) which today confidently compares with the Nissan Z and brings back the childhood dream car of many Gen Xers.
Toyoda said that at 66, he is too old to run a company that expected to meet the needs of younger generation as his views, and tastes might be outdated thus the need for the company to have a new management team of younger leaders to navigate the challenges ahead.
Inspite of taking Toyota to leadership position in many areas, the company has faced criticism that it has been too slow to adapt to the rapid rise of EV challengers like Tesla and China's BYD.
As his replacement, Toyoda presented one of the most loyal insiders in Koji Sato, former president of Lexus, and one of Lexus top engineers/innovators. Koji is presently Toyota’s Chief Branding Officer.
According to the retiring CEO, "Sato is a man who has worked hard to master Toyota's philosophy, techniques and manners in the field of car manufacturing, he is young, and he loves cars."
"In order to promote change in an age when the right answers are not known, it is necessary for the top management to continue to be on the frontlines themselves. To do so, physical strength, energy and passion are essential. I think being young is a big attraction in itself."
A Different Car Company
A major uniqueness of the Toyota philosophy that stood it out from others is also why it builds far more reliable and durable cars; Toyota is run by engineers, while other car companies are run by salesmen and accountants.
To head Toyota, you either have engineering background, or you first get accepted by the engineers because Toyota engineers are renowned for sticking to their ideas.
And two major areas have exemplified this over the last four decades. First are quality materials: Toyota engineers insist on high-quality materials in the manufacturing of their engines, including robust cast iron blocks, durable aluminum alloys, and high-grade steel components.
The second is precision engineering: Toyota has a reputation for precision engineering, which means that each engine is designed and manufactured with extreme care and attention to detail. This helps ensure that every component works together seamlessly to maximize performance, and may work in extreme conditions without replacement for upwards of two decades.
Yo shinai, Yo kangai-Good thinking, Good Product!
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Credit: Kelechi Deca
。。。。2013.9
昨晚網友已用日文報的豊田 英二訃聞通知...
我說
他的著作《決斷》(台北: 天下 1986? / 原名 《我的履歷書》 1984) 和《豊田 英二 語錄》等都值得一讀
Eiji Toyoda - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiji_Toyoda
Eiji Toyoda (豊田 英二, Toyoda Eiji, 12 September 1913 – 17 September 2013) was a prominent Japanese industrialist, who was largely responsible for bringing ...
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Eiji Toyoda, Driver of Global Expansion, Dies at 100
Cousin of Toyota Motor's Founder Served as President for 15 Years
Eiji Toyoda spent half his life managing Toyota Motor Corp. 7203.TO +1.44% and played an integral role in Japan's rise to the top of the global auto industry while restoring the founding family as leaders.
Mr. Toyoda, who died on Tuesday just days after his 100th birthday, had a 15-year tenure as president during which Toyota cracked the U.S. auto market by offering small, high quality cars that Detroit had neglected.
After touring Ford Motor Co.'s F +1.06% main plant in the U.S. in 1950, Mr. Toyoda returned home with the idea of tailoring the mass-production methods he saw to Japanese standards. It became the basis of Toyota's efficient production that he promoted as kaizen, or continuous improvement, and led Toyota to become the world's largest auto maker by volume and one of Japan's most profitable companies.
Eiji Toyoda
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Review some key dates in Eiji Toyoda's career.
After a failed early attempt to appeal to U.S. buyers, Toyota succeeded with its 1968 Corolla model the year after Mr. Toyoda took over as president. Over its nearly 47 years on the market, the Corolla has become the world's most popular car, with more than 40 million sold.
To avoid an escalation of trade friction between the U.S. and Japan in the 1980s, Mr. Toyoda oversaw creation of a joint production venture with General Motors Corp. GM +2.37% in Fremont, Calif., called New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. It was Toyota's first production site in the U.S.; it now has six U.S. assembly plants.
Mr. Toyoda also guided the birth of Toyota's luxury brand, Lexus, which he set in motion in 1983, the year after he became the company's chairman. The first Lexus made its debut to rave reviews six years later.
A cousin of the Toyota's founder, Kiichiro Toyoda, Eiji Toyoda helped build the company's first commercial plant, on the site of a red pine grove in town of Koromo, later renamed Toyota City.
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Jiji Press/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Eiji Toyoda, shown in 1989
The Toyoda family changed the company name to Toyota in 1936 mainly for marketing reasons—believing it sounded crisper and more modern than the fairly common family name.
Kiichiro Toyoda resigned in 1950 after business setbacks forced Toyota to split into manufacturing and sales companies that operated under nonfamily leadership. Eiji Toyoda became president of Toyota Motor in 1967 and in 1982 he was named chairman of the reunified Toyota Motor Co. with Shoichiro Toyoda, son of the founder, as president. The merger set the stage for Toyota's rise as an integrated global automobile maker under the founding family's leadership.
Shoichiro Toyoda's son Akio Toyoda is Toyota's current president and chief executive.
Eiji Toyoda stepped down as chairman in 1992 and served as honorary chairman until 1999, when he assumed the ceremonial post of honorary adviser until his death.
He was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun in 1990, one of Japan's highest honors. He was the second Japanese inductee into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 1994, following Honda Motor Co. 7267.TO +1.71% founder Soichiro Honda.
Mr. Toyoda died at Toyota Memorial Hospital in Toyota City. He is survived by three sons: Kanshiro, chairman of Toyota-affiliated auto-parts maker Aisin Seiki Co.; Tetsuro, chairman of parts maker, Toyota Industries Corp.; and Shuhei, a former head of Toyota's European operations, who now is president of parts maker Toyota Boshoku Corp.
豐田英二留下的是「危機意識」
2013/09/18
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打印E-mail 豐田汽車原社長、最高顧問豐田英二9月17日去世。作為曾經的社長和董事長，豐田英二為豐田確立了穩固的財務體制和「豐田生產方式」，併為豐田走向世界打 下了基礎。在日美汽車貿易摩擦最為激烈的1983年，他代表豐田與美國通用汽車閃電般地簽署了合作協議。他的一生歷經了二戰後的混亂和日本經濟的騰飛，以 及全球化時代到來這一幕幕時代劇變。
「（豐田的）資金如何運營完全不用你們操心」，大約20年前，時任董事長的豐田英二在記者會上曾這樣嚴肅地回答記者。當時，被稱為「豐田銀行」的豐田公司 積累了2萬億日元（約合人民幣1240.84億元）的資金，這些資金要如何運用成為記者的眾矢之的。而面對記者的發問，豐田英二一把搶過話筒作答的身影看 似有些感情用事。然而，作為二戰後混亂時期的親身經歷者，他的想法裏似乎不能容忍記者們如此輕率地拋出問題。
豐田英二畢業于原東京帝國大學（現東京大學）工學部，1937年進入豐田汽車工業（現豐田）。上世紀50年代初，豐田的財務等進入了由銀行管理的體制。當時，豐田英二正擔任常務董事。「要說有什麼後悔的，就是沒能讓我直接參與投資」，他在後來的回憶中這樣說。
1961年卸任的石田退三社長曾反復向豐田英二強調「自己的地盤要自己守住」。在此熏陶下，豐田英二對豐田的財務徹底進行了強化管理。之所以一直持有2萬億日元的現金，是因為「即使出現經營危機，也至少能撐上4年」。
2009年，豐田在美國遇到召回問題。儘管當時日本正在「失去的20年」（指日本90年代泡沫經濟崩潰後持續的經濟低迷時期）裏苦苦掙扎，但豐田卻一直發揮著影響力，原因就在於經營過程中一直沒有鬆懈的危機意識。而這一基礎的締造者就是豐田英二。
在生產領域豐田英二也留下了寶貴的遺產。「及時改善」、「看板方式」、「現場管理」。這些耳熟能詳的用語是由將豐田生產方式體系化的大野耐一（原豐田汽車 工業副社長）創造，但真正將其貫徹落實的則是豐田英二。不是漫無目的地開展工作，而是讓每一名員工站在經營者的角度進行思考，從而實現生產一線的高效化。
「在豐田從50年前開始致力於汽車研究時，在美國汽車的普及率已經達到了每4人1輛」，1984年9月，豐田英二在為日本經濟新聞（中文版：日經中文網）的連載欄目《我的履歷書》撰稿時曾如此寫道。
豐田英二擔任董事長後更為豐田的全球化絞盡腦汁。儘管從合作夥伴通用汽車那裏借鑒到了很多經驗，但通用汽車在2009年陷入破產。已經成為世界第一的豐田又將在本財年實現前所未有的全球銷售一千萬輛，不知豐田英二對此會有怎樣的感慨。
當然，沒有什麼能保證豐田將永遠繁榮下去。如今，未曾經歷二戰後危機的一代進入了豐田的管理中樞。如何維持豐田英二一直提醒注意的危機意識？這是豐田面臨的最大課題之一。
本文作者為日本經濟新聞（中文版：日經中文網）編輯委員 中山淳史
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打造全球最強車企的豐田英二
豐田汽車前社長、帶領豐田開展全球化業務的最高顧問豐田英二于9月17日逝世。在美國福特汽車創始人亨利·福特創立的量產手法「福特生產方式」拉開序幕的汽車產業史上，20世紀後半期的主要人物之一便是豐田英二。
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| 豐田英二（左）出席通用和豐田汽車的合資公司NUMMI的開業儀式，右為通用董事長羅傑·史密斯（1985年，AP） |
豐田英二經營戰略的出發點源於1950年前後遭遇經營危機時，帶領豐田重建的社長石田退三的那句「自己的企業自己守護」。豐田英二作為豐田的董事經歷過倒閉前的經營危機和大量裁員，因此得出了只有自己能救自己的經營哲學。
「只要開動腦筋，幹毛巾也能擰出水」、「在工序中改善品質」。豐田通過發揮一線員工的聰明才智不斷改善品質的生產方式，最終取代福特生產方式成為「世界標準」，對全球製造業的經營產生了重大影響。
豐田英二還是一位優秀的汽車開發工程師。在其擔任副社長時，主導開發了第一代「卡羅拉」，並以高標準來激烈開發人員「正是因為困難，才會成為財富」。這為日本帶來了機動化進程，同時還為後人留下了一款經久不衰的暢銷車。
上世紀90年代以後，高檔車品牌「雷克薩斯」在美國取得成功，甚至被稱為「品牌奇跡」，但如果沒有豐田英二「希望挑戰世界高檔車品牌」的純粹的工程師靈魂，這一切可能很難實現。
在上世紀80年代的汽車貿易摩擦中，豐田迅速與通用展開合作，成立了合資公司NUMMI。此舉搶佔了美國的汽車需求，緩解了工會問題，並減輕了日資廠商遭受的政治壓力，通過與通用的合作獲得的有形無形資產促成了此後在北美市場的飛速發展。
豐田前會長奧田碩認為豐田需要「社德」（企業道德），這種想法也可以追溯到豐田英二。在其擔任社長的1974年組建了當時世界上最大規模的「豐田財 團」，1981年建立了豐田工業大學。豐田英二意識到回饋社會和人才培養等企業的社會責任，並且迅速採取了行動。豐田財團如今仍在以每年100億日元的規 模為社會公益和研究活動提供資助。
為實現理想而不斷前進的豐田英二在一部分人看來顯得有些「特立獨行」。但他不在乎周圍的評價，而是相信自己描繪的理想，進而永遠擁有追求的力量。
豐田英二曾將不會發生事故和造成環境污染的想象中的交通工具描繪為汽車的理想形態，並顯示了技術開發的方向。由混合動力車（HV）「普銳斯」所象徵的、領先於其他公司的豐田環境技術正是來源於這一想法。
如果順利，豐田全球銷量有望在2013年度達到汽車行業的首個1000萬輛，成長為無與倫比的全球製造業企業。在失去追趕目標時，能否自己描繪理想、並保持增長的持續能力和活力？豐田英二留給豐田的最大遺產能否得到有效利用？豐田將承受考驗。
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