Enter “Morizo”: Just In Time for Toyota?

At the dawn of the 8th decade for the car manufacturing giant, new blood comes in the form of a racing enthusiast with a name full of tradition. Behind a conventional façade, Akio Toyoda’s contradictions come fast: a racing enthusiast, he came across as lacking in spontaneity at his first press conference. The grandson of founder Kiichiro Toyoda, he has shunned nepotism and made his way through the ranks since 1984, being the youngest member of the board of directors since 2000. His venture, Gazoo.com, was something of an internet revolution in Japan, yet Gazoo never sold Toyota cars. He is given a team of new blood, yet it is only one third of the board of 29 strong.  He has been given a company with losses in free fall, yet Toyota tradition discourages from laying off permanent staff or closing down plants. What a conundrum…

But promising signs are already beginning to shine through. Akio took personally a 30% pay cut to set the example. He is working on the company vision for the future by focussing on fuel-saving solutions and hybrid models, in tune with the difficult times. He is inviting back vocal Toyota legends like Yoshimi Inaba to take up strategic posts. He poses in pictures at Toyota plants (Fortune magazine), reminding everyone the 12th principle of the Toyota Way, Genchi Genbutsu (Go and see for yourself). And he is doing his “Voice of the Customer” by using his favourite pastime, racing, to gauge how it feels from the customer’s perspective, by sitting on the customer’s seat – literally. His alias, Morizo, has been relating his thoughts on the Gazoo blog for a few years now.

Should we expect great things from Akio Toyoda – yes, undoubtedly. Can he do it – failure is not an option. And let’s face it, if Toyota, with its long tradition of continuous improvement and the $50+ billion saved away for a rainy day, cannot pull it out of the bag, what are the chances for the rest of the car manufacturers? GM anyone?
 

This is a guest article by Athena McEwen, a Business Improvement Consultant at Lloyd's Register.