Akio Toyoda will be promoted to senior managing director of Toyota Motor Corp. in June -- a year after becoming the automaker's managing director, the firm said Tuesday.
Toyoda, 47, is the only son of Shoichiro Toyoda, honorary chairman of Toyota, and grandson of the company's founder, Kiichiro Toyoda. He is widely regarded as a contender for the firm's presidency.
His promotion will make him the youngest board member to serve the nation's largest automaker. The new appointment is expected to be officially approved at a board meeting following a shareholders' meeting in June.
Toyoda joined the company in 1984 and is currently in charge of its Chinese and other Asian operations.
His rapid ascent through the ranks grew out of the successful launch of a car manufacturing operation in China last year and the establishment of online auto-related services, company officials said. His family ties no doubt helped.
Toyota also named directors and 39 managing officers, including three foreigners from Toyota's overseas subsidiaries. They are also expected to be formally appointed at the board meeting in June.
The automaker plans to slash the number of board directors from 58 to 27 in June -- a move aimed at accelerating decision making. It will also create 39 new positions, to be known as managing officers, who will oversee day-to-day operations.
The managing officers were selected from among executives of its group companies around the world.
The three foreign managing officers are James Press, executive vice president of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc.; Gary Convis, president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky Inc.; and Alan Jones, president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing (U.K.) Ltd.
