Toyota announced Friday that its chief executive officer Koji Sato is stepping down from his current role and will be succeeded by the company’s chief financial officer, Kenta Kon.
The world’s largest automaker said in an announcement that after its new leadership shakeup, Sato will now “focus on the broader industry, including Toyota,” as its vice chairman and chief industry officer, while Kon “will focus on internal company management” as president and CEO. The announcement comes after Toyota has recently struggled with increasing competition from China and struggles resulting from President Donald Trump’s tariffs, The New York Times reported.
The newly announced change in leadership roles is aiming to “accelerate management decision-making in response to changes in the internal and external environment and to establish a structure that will enable Toyota to fully carry out its mission of contributing to society through industry,” according to the company’s announcement. The leadership changes will take effect on April 1, according to the auto giant.
Toyota did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
During a press conference following the Friday announcement, Kon compared the change to Sato becoming “captain of the national team” while Kon will now be like the “club captain,” CNBC reported.
Toyota notably warned in August 2025 that it projects Trump’s tariffs will cost it roughly $9.5 billion in its fiscal year ending in March, Sherwood News reported.
Many major U.S. automakers have faced increasingly stiff competition from China in recent years, according to variousreports. China’s automotive industry has become the biggest exporter of vehicles across the globe since 2023 and has also been increasingly introducing electric vehicles (EVs) worldwide, CNBC reported on Friday.
China accounted for over 70% of EV and EV battery production globally in 2024, and 40% of total global EV exports, Contrary Research reported in December 2025.
In October 2025, Trump announced that the automaker would shell out $10 billion into new auto plants in the U.S. In November 2025, Akio Toyoda, chairman of the Board of Directors at Toyota Motor Corporation, sported a Trump-Vance shirt and a Make America Great Again (MAGA) hat during a NASCAR event in Japan, Fox Business reported.
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