Tokyo, June 23 (DPA) Akio Toyoda Tuesday was confirmed as president of Toyota Motor Corp at a shareholders’ meeting in the central Japanese city of Toyota, the headquarters of the world’s leading carmaker.
While a record 3,364 shareholders attended the meeting, the 53-year-old member of the founding family took over at a time Toyota has been suffering its first annual losses in more than 70 years of company history.
The eldest son of Toyota Motor Honorary Chairman Shoichiro Toyoda took over the helm with the aim to revive the firm’s business performance.
Toyota saw a net loss of 436.9 billion yen ($4.55 billion) and an operating loss of 41.01 billion yen for the 2008-09 fiscal year that ended in March. The company enjoyed a profit of 1.72 trillion yen the previous fiscal year.
Outgoing former president Katsuaki Watanabe apologised to investors, whose dividend was cut by 40 yen to 100 yen this year, for the worsening business performance
