Toyota CEO Sees EVs as ‘Missing Piece’ for World’s Top Carmaker
Koji Sato must walk a fine line, addressing a deficiency in EVs without rocking the boat at a company keen to pursue multiple paths to carbon neutrality.
Koji Sato at the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo.
Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/BloombergHow’s this for a difficult job: taking over from the founder’s grandson, who led the family business to the very top of its industry, and who’s still very much in the mix as paradigm-changing disruptors force the company to transform.
Such is the position Koji Sato was thrust into at Toyota Motor Corp. in April, taking over from Akio Toyoda, who became chairman. The Japanese manufacturer is making and selling more cars than ever, and yet battery-electric vehicles are a “missing piece” in its vast portfolio of products, Sato said in one of his first interviews since his promotion to chief executive officer in April.