Hiroshi Okuda (奥田 碩), former president of Toyota Motor Corporation, died from age-related causes. He died at the age of 93 and, when he became president, was the first chief executive from outside the founding family in 28 years.
Hiroshi Okuda (奥田 碩), former president of Toyota Motor Corporation, has died from age-related causes. After joining Toyota Motor Sales (now Toyota Motor Corporation) in 1955, he pursued a career in accounting and became president in 1995, the first person from outside the founding family to take the post in 28 years. After leaving the presidency, he served as chairman of Toyota and chairman of the Japan Business Federation, voicing warnings about the Japanese economy on numerous occasions.
As chairman of the Japan Business Federation, he pointed to the lack of a sense of responsibility and the weakening sense of obligation among Japanese companies. He maintained that structural reform would be a long-term undertaking and that problems with education and social attitudes lay at its root, calling for changes to the education system and corporate recruitment practices.