Akio Toyoda, President and CEO, Toyota Motor Corp.
Kiyoshi Ota | bloomberg | Getty Images
The Japanese automaker said on Thursday that Toyota Motor Corporation President and CEO Akio Toyoda will step down from his post on April 1, to be replaced by current brand chief Koji Sato.
Toyoda will become the new chairman of the board of directors, while current chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada will continue as a member of the board.
Toyoda, 66, is the great-grandson of the automaker’s founder, W He has been CEO since June 2009.
“I thought the best way to further Toyota’s transformation would be for me to become president to support the new president, and that led to today’s decision. President Uchiyamada has long supported me in every way imaginable,” Toyoda said in a webcast.
He added, “Looking back, these 13 years have been a period of struggling to survive day by day, and this is my honest feeling.”
Tokyo-listed shares of Toyota ended the session down 0.63% on Thursday, before the announcement.
– CNBC’s Jihye Lee contributed to this story
– Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that Toyoda was referring to Toyota when discussing its transformation on the webcast.
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