(Feb 6): Toyota Motor Corp appointed a lieutenant of Akio Toyoda as chief executive officer in a surprise leadership reshuffle that signals the automotive scion’s tightening control over his business empire and an intensifying push for profitability.
Kenta Kon, who is currently Toyota Motor’s chief financial officer, will assume the top job on April 1, the company said on Friday. He replaces Koji Sato, who was appointed CEO in 2023 and will become vice chairman as well as take on a newly established role as chief industry officer.
Toyota said it promoted the 57-year-old finance chief, who’s worked at the firm since 1991 and served as Toyoda’s secretary for eight years, amid an urgent need to bolster profitability. Meanwhile, Sato will use his role as head of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers’ Association to steer the broader industry.
Kon talked up his fiscal credentials: “I’m very strict when it comes to money and numbers,” he told reporters in Tokyo.
While Toyota is looking to boost its bottomline in the face of persistent headwinds from US import tariffs, the appointment of Kon indicates Toyoda’s drive to streamline his sprawling business interests.
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The management shakeup coincides with a high-profile push by the Toyota group to take Toyota Industries Corp private in a tender offer that closes next week. The effort is facing strong pushback from activist investor Elliott Investment Management, which has argued that the proposal undervalues the company, and turned the potential buyout into a test of Japan’s corporate governance reforms.
If completed, the company will fall under the control of unlisted real estate firm Toyota Fudosan Co, which is chaired by Toyoda and counts Kon as a director.
“Kon has served as a close aide to Akio Toyoda since his days as Toyoda’s secretary, and communication between the two is known to be exceptionally smooth,” said Bloomberg Intelligence senior auto analyst Tatsuo Yoshida. “Kon stands out not only for his experience and ability, but also for his frank, clear, and accessible style of communication.”
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Beyond Toyoda’s consolidation of control, the elevation of a finance specialist underscores the pressure Toyota and its peers are facing from competition with Chinese rivals and geopolitical volatility. The automaker said on Friday that net income dropped 43% in the third quarter, despite rising sales, due to the ongoing impact of US tariffs.
Still, Toyota raised its full-year profit guidance to ¥3.8 trillion and it reported record sales for 2025.
Delivering on that guidance is likely to be the first test of Kon’s prowess. Toyota’s gas-electric hybrid lineup is helping it weather a slowdown in electric vehicle demand and it’s even managed to regain some ground in the ultra-competitive China market.
The selection of Kon as CEO “bodes well with the business transformation Toyota is trying to achieve,” said James Hong, an analyst at Macquarie Securities Korea Ltd. A pillar of that transformation is shifting focus from new car sales to software and recurring businesses, like its value chain unit, he said.
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