Former Toyota President Tatsuro Toyoda Dies at 88

Former Toyota Motor Corporation president Tatsuro Toyoda died last December 30 at 88 years old. A representative from the Japanese car company says that the man who greenlit the game-changing Prius died of pneumonia. Further details surrounding the death were not provided.

Tatsuro Toyoda’s Legacy

A son of Toyota founder Kiichiro Toyoda, Tatsuro joined the family business after graduating as an engineer from the University of Tokyo in 1953. Despite this responsibility, he still managed to attend graduate school at  New York University (NYU), where he studied under the tutelage of quality control expert W. Edwards Deming, an NYU professor known for helping Japan develop its reputation for quality. Tatsuro graduated from NYU in 1958.

Tatsuro played a key role in bringing Toyota to the North American market when he set up a joint venture in California with U.S. car brand General Motors in 1984. The project, dubbed as New United Motor Manufacturing Inc.(NUMMI), became the template for many international collaborations in the years to come.

Toyoda served as the NUMMI project's first president and was credited as the man who introduced Toyota's corporate culture of high efficiency, teamwork, and empowered workers to America, including the implementation of a new approach to labor-management relations.

NUMMI paved the way for the creation of an American assembly and component plant in the U.S. He also played a major role in Toyota's international expansion during the 80s and 90s. Tatsuyo eventually became the company president in 1992, and helped the company achieve unprecedented global expansion.

Stepping Down as President

The company's seventh president stepped down in 1995 and handed the helm to an executive who did not carry the Toyoda name. Nevertheless, Tatsuro still kept his other posts in the company, including acting as an adviser, a responsibility he kept until his death.