Akio Toyoda Named 2021 World Car Person of the Year
A panel of 93 international automotive journalists have named Akio Toyoda, president and CEO of the Toyota Motor Corporation, the 2021 World Car Person of the Year.
Toyoda, grandson of Toyota founder Kiichiro Toyoda, joined the company in 1984 after obtaining a law degree at Keio University in Japan and a master’s degree in business administration at Babson College in the United States. He served in various areas of his family business before becoming a member of the TMC board of directors in 2000. He then held a number of senior and executive roles until 2009, when he became president.
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Though the World Car Awards program has existed since 2003, the World Car Person of the Year award is relatively new, having been created in 2018. This is what the organization had to say about its most recent honoree:
“In 2020, under his leadership, Toyota remained profitable, despite COVID-19, thus protecting jobs worldwide. He has maintained Toyota’s pace of steady development for the Connected, Autonomous, Shared and Electric era, and he has initiated construction of the Woven City, an exciting real-life prototype city of the future. All while actively participating in motorsports himself, as a driver.”
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Toyoda responded to the award with admirable humility. “On behalf of all 360,000 Toyota Team members around the world, thank you for this tremendous honor,” he said. “If you don’t mind, however, I would like to change this award from car ‘person’ of the year to car ‘people’ of the year, because it’s the collective effort of all our global employees, retailers and suppliers that has truly made Toyota what it is today. And I for one could not be a luckier, or more grateful CEO.”
As automotive enthusiasts, if we had to thank Toyoda for one thing, it would be the revival of his company as a performance-oriented brand via the development of Gazoo Racing — Toyota’s motorsport arm that has recently released the excellent GR Supra, GR Yaris, and GR 86.
Kurt Verlin was born in France and lives in the United States. Throughout his life he was always told French was the language of romance, but it was English he fell in love with. He likes cats, music, cars, 30 Rock, Formula 1, and pretending to be a race car driver in simulators; but most of all, he just likes to write about it all. See more articles by Kurt.