Okuda Hiroshi (奥田碩), former president of Toyota Motor Corporation, died of old age on 8 August at the age of 93. This reprint from a tribute series looks back at the timing of his appointment as president and the meaning behind the sense of crisis he expressed in interviews.
Okuda Hiroshi (奥田碩), former president of Toyota Motor Corporation, died of old age on 8 August at the age of 93. He joined the company in 1955 and, after building his career in accounting, became president in 1995, when the presidency changed from Toyota Tatsuro (豊田達郎), a member of the founding family, to Okuda Hiroshi (奥田碩). It was the first time in 28 years that someone from outside the founding family had become president. After leaving the post, he served as chairman of Toyota and in other positions, supporting the growth of the company’s global sales.
In an interview at the time, Okuda Hiroshi (奥田碩) said, “A company’s peak does not last long” and “If we do not change to keep pace with the times, we will go under,” expressing what was described as a sense of crisis despite his company’s strong performance. He also discussed the importance of achieving both market share and profitability as a defining characteristic of the automobile industry.
Toyota is now regarded as the “runaway winner” among Japanese automakers, and a 2001 interview has been reprinted as the second installment of the tribute series. Okuda Hiroshi’s (奥田碩) comments are presented as underscoring the importance of adapting to changes in the times.
The tribute series, “The Automobile Industry: A Death Match in the ‘Strongest Industry,’” also examines the Toyota family’s management policies and corporate governance while looking back at past comments and events.