Toyota Motor Corp announced the new leadership structure of Daihatsu Motor Corporation which is tasked with rebuilding Daihatsu. The restructuring announcement was announced directly by Koji Sato, President of Toyota Motor Corp, this Tuesday (13/2/2024).
In this announcement Koji Sato was accompanied by Masahiro Inoue who now acts as President of Daihatsu Motor Corporation. Inoue replaces Soichiro Okudaira, who previously decided to resign as President of Daihatsu Motor Corporation.
Apart from Masahiro Inoue, Koji Sato also announced other executives who will play important roles at Daihatsu, namely Masanori Kuwata as Executive Vice President and Keiko Yanagi who sits as Director of Daihatsu Motor Corporation.
The presence of these two new people replaces other Daihatsu executives, namely Sunao Matsubayashi who previously served as Chairman of Daihatsu Motor Corporation and Masahiro Yamamato who served as Director of Daihatsu Motor Corporation. Like Soichiro Okudaira, Sunao Matsubayashi and Masahiro Yamamoto resigned from Daihatsu.
“Effective March 1 2024, Matsubayashi and Okudaira will step down from their positions. New President Masahiro Inoue will lead the revitalization of Daihatsu in accordance with his strong experience in the field,” said Koji Sato.
It is known that Masahiro Inoue is a Toyota employee with decades of work experience. He has been sent to various developing countries and South America.
His last position was CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation Latin America and the Caribbean Region. It is believed that his extraordinary long experience in developing countries has become strong capital for Masahiro Inoue to reorganize Daihatsu, which has recently been in the spotlight due to a car production fraud scandal that has lasted for decades.
“I have been aware of the problems that have occurred at Daihatsu since they surfaced in April last year. I sincerely apologize for this inconvenience,” said Masahiro Inoue.
He admitted that he was very excited to be given the trust to reorganize Daihatsu after being hit by an embarrassing scandal. According to him, he is surrounded by the best people to improve Daihatsu.
“We will move together as one team and we will rebuild Daihatsu as a valuable company,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Koji Sato said that the resignation of the three senior Daihatsu executives was not a form of punishment given by Toyota for the scandal. The three executives, Soichiro Okudaira, Sunao Matsubayashi, and Masahiro Yamamoto want to provide opportunities to people who can overcome the challenges faced by Daihatsu today.
“They also understand the challenges faced by Daihatsu because they have been at Daihatsu for a long time. So they need new enthusiasm to develop new ideas,” explained Koji Sato.
