New chief to recast Toyota top deck

TOKYO: Toyota Motor Corp, the world���s largest automaker, will replace most of its top management later this year as incoming President Akio Toyoda aims to return the automaker to profit, people familiar with the matter said.

Toyoda, who will succeed Katsuaki Watanabe in June, will replace the company���s other four executive vice presidents and ���many��� of the 19 senior managing directors, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the changes haven���t yet been announced. Watanabe will become vice chairman.

Toyoda, the 52-year-old grandson of founder Kiichiro Toyoda, will have to stanch the carmaker���s sales slump as it forecasts the first operating loss in 71 years. He may curb the expansion strategy that allowed the company to top General Motors Corp in sales for the first time last year.

���This kind of move is rare for an old-line company like Toyota and very refreshing,��� said Koichi Ogawa, who helps oversee $28 billion at Daiwa SB Investments Ltd in Tokyo. ���The new management is going to break the past hierarchies.���

Japanese companies are becoming more willing to remove failed executives. Mizuho Financial Group Inc replaced its chief executive officer last week after subprime-related losses crippled earnings. In 2007, Sanyo Electric Co ousted its president after three years of losses.

Honorary Chairman Shoichiro Toyoda, Akio���s 83-year-old father, and Adviser Hiroshi Okuda, 76, may step down from Toyota���s board, Chairman Fujio Cho said on January 20. Paul Nolasco, a Toyota spokesman, declined to comment on any changes
in management.