Toyota facing rough time

The new boss at Toyota has sketched out his plans for returning it to profit.

Akio Toyoda promised a back to basics approach in response to the brutal global recession that has plunged the world’s number one carmaker deeper into loss.

Toyoda – who is the grandson of Toyota’s founder – has just started work as president.

He said everything possible will be done to avoid a third consecutive year of losses adding he would take a 30 percent pay cut for his first year in the job.

Toyoda told reporters: “We’re looking at two more tough years ahead. But if we unite as one with all our staff from distribution to sales, we’ll get over this tough period and Toyota will return to profit.”

He added: “The new Toyota sets sail in very stormy waters, but right now we’re working at full speed to cut costs and jump-start sales.”

He announced a new management structure with vice presidents assigned to separate regions to speed up decision-making and make the company more responsive.

There will also be a review of the line up, so that only some models are sold in certain regions to better match up with demand.

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tags: Cars, Economy, Industry