Toyota Motor Corp. share price down, diversifies executive ranks

Toyota Motor Corp. announced the unprecedented appointment of a French national as executive vice president, while also naming its first female and African-American managing officers in a push to diversify senior ranks mainly comprised of Japanese men.

According the companys statement, Toyota Europes current head who has been serving at the position for half a decade – Didier Leroy – will be appointed as one of six executive vice presidents of Toyota. Mr. Leroy joined the Japanese giant in 1998 after working at Renault SA for 16 years.

Toyota also promoted its current head of communications in North America – Julie Hamp – to managing officer, the first female executive in company history. Ms. Hamp will be based in Japan and cover communications as managing officer, becoming only the third woman in senior ranks at Japans largest automakers.

The company also named Christopher Reynolds, Toyota Motor North America’s chief legal officer, as its first black managing officer. Mr. Reynolds will take on his current role in a global capacity as general counsel and chief legal officer.

The management decisions mark a major shift for Toyota, which has remained conservative when it comes to leading positions at its managing team. Toyota, however, is not the first Japanese company, which has recently shaken up its executive team by bringing in more foreign and female appointments. Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. announced it will promote Christophe Weber, current chief operating officer and French citizen, to CEO as of April 1st.

The president of Atlantis Investment Research – Mr. Edwin Merner – commented on Toyotas new appointments for Bloomberg: “Toyota has realized that they’re not a Japanese carmaker, they’re a world carmaker. If they’re going to understand overseas markets and plan, design and build cars, then they have to have people who have a good understanding of those markets.”

Toyota Motor Corp. closed 0.29% lower on Wednesday in Tokyo at JPY8 112 per share, marking a one-year change of +39.60%. The company is valued at JPY27.77 trillion. According to the Financial Times, the 26 analysts offering 12-month price targets for Toyota Motor Corp. have a median target of JPY8 800, with a high estimate of JPY10 500 and a low estimate of JPY7 800. The median estimate represents a 8.16% increase from the previous close of JPY8 136.