Toyota PH now under Hashimoto's helm

Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) is now under new leadership.

Former TMP president Atsuhiro Okamoto has officially turned over the leadership role to his successor Masando Hashimoto during a recent ceremony held in Taguig.

TMP Chairman Alfred Ty welcomed the new leader to his role, highlighting the latter’s experience.

The expertise of the 46-year-old Hashimoto (whose career at Toyota Motor Corporation began in 2007) had spanned various critical functions such as global sales and business planning, Asia distribution, and human resource management.

Prior to his latest position, Hashimoto started in TMP last year as the firm’s senior vice president for marketing. Before that, he was the senior division coordinator at Toyota Motor Thailand.

With the recent appointment, Hashimoto became the youngest president in TMP history.

Aside from being the TMP president, he is also now the chairman of Toyota Mobility Solutions Philippines, TMP’s mobility services arm and wholly-owned subsidiary.

In his address, Hashimoto pushed for stronger cooperation in the automotive industry and seeks to harness the fullest potential of the Philippine human capital. “As [local> manufacturing remains at the core of its business, Toyota can have the best of both worlds of hardware for production quality and software for [highly skilled> workforce,” he said.

Per TMP, the change of guards was made as the company further grows with new mobility solutions and automotive value chain innovations.

The firm is also preparing for the local production of the IMV 0 (Zero), which will be TMP’s third completely knocked down model.

“Under your leadership, we look forward to the introduction of the next-generation Tamaraw, a step-up in our drive towards electrified and connected mobility and the further upliftment of the lives of Filipinos,” Ty said.

Okamoto’s career highlights

Hashimoto assumed the leadership role from Atsuhiro Okamoto, whose stint was riddled with major challenges.

Ty also recognized Okamoto’s leadership, noting that the former leader was welcomed into office in 2020 by the eruption of the Taal Volcano followed by the ill-effects of the global Covid-19 health crisis.

During his stint, Okamoto led TMP to new historical record-high sales and had one of the highest manufacturing quality and efficiency standards in the Southeast Asian region.

Also, TMP started to operate at pre-Covid levels as early as 2022.

Currently, Toyota has also maintained its position as the country’s best-selling car marque for the 22 consecutive years — with TMP setting a new all-time sales record last year.

Photos from Ruben Manahan IV

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