Akio Toyoda to Step Down as Toyota President and CEO

Akio Toyoda will be stepping down from his role as president and chief executive officer on April 1, the company announced Thursday.

Toyoda, 66, will move to a position as chairman of the board of directors, replacing Takeshi Uchiyamada, who will stay on the board as a voting member.

Toyoda will be replaced by Koji Sato, who currently sits as Toyota's operating officer, chief branding officer, president of Lexus International, and president of Gazoo Racing. He will retain his operating officer title as he assumes the president and CEO positions, and be added as a member of the board of directors. Toyota has yet to say who will fill Sato's other current roles.

“I thought the best way to further Toyota’s transformation would be for me to become chairman in support of a new president, and this has led to today’s decision," Toyoda said in a translated webcast, CNBC reports. "Chairman Uchiyamada has long supported me in all imaginable ways."

Toyoda—also known as Mr. Morizo in the racing community—is the grandson of Toyota's founder. He joined the board of directors in 2000 before being promoted to executive vice president in 2005. He moved into his current role in 2009, pioneering green tech while retaining his love for racing and rally.

“Cars in the future will evolve in the concept of mobility itself," Sato said in the webcast, according to CNBC. "Amid such, I hope to preserve the essential value of the car and propose new forms of mobility."

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