Shoichiro Toyoda, Who Approved the Creation of Lexus, Passes Away at 97
Son of Toyota Motors founder Kiichiro Toyoda, Schoichiro Toyoda not only approved the launch of the Lexus brand, but also the Toyota Prius.
Today Toyota announced the passing of Honorary Chairman Schoichiro Toyoda at the age of 97 from heart failure. Born in 1925 in Nagoya, Japan, he was the grandson of Toyoda Automatic Loom Works founder Sakichi Toyoda as well as the son of the Toyota Motors founder Kiichiro Toyoda. He is survived by his son, Akio Toyoda aka Moriso, Toyota’s current president.
Schoichiro Toyoda began his career at Toyota Motors in the early 1950s, rising through the ranks over the next three decades. When the modern Toyota Motor Corporation merged to form in 1982, he became the company’s first president and was largely responsible for the internal blending of two distinct corporate cultures. He was also chairman between 1992 and 1999, after which he became honorary chairman.
Schoichiro Toyoda, A Legacy as Large as the Name Lexus
Schoichiro Toyoda, third from left, observing the LS 400 production line.
Schiorichiro’s, perhaps, most lasting decisions came during both his positions as president and chairman. He was one of the key figures that approved and guided the launch of Lexus as a brand in the mid-to-late 1980s. As Shoichiro wrote himself in Nikkei Asia back in 2014, “Among the cars we unveiled during my time as president, the Lexus LS 400 luxury sedan is a standout.”
Mr. Toyoda described the “impossible” nature of this task. The first Lexus needed to compete with Mercedes build quality. And with European top-speed requirements. But it also needed to avoid the gas guzzler tax in the United States. “We hoped to offer a car with the best performance, fuel economy and comfort in its class, surpassing established luxury marques like Mercedes-Benz,” he wrote.
Shoichiro Toyoda, third from left, in Arizona in 1992.
In the end, Toyoda presided over a team that developed a new way to manufacture vehicles, integrating robots to assemble parts and panels, “with greater accuracy than the skilled workers at Mercedes and BMW.”
The rest, as they say, is history. Lexus went on to become a marquee luxury automobile brand. The LS lives on to this day, as does the RX, which launched in the late 1990s when Toyoda was chairman. The RX was a blockbuster hit and remains the best-selling Lexus model here in the United States.
And if that weren’t enough, Schiorichiro Toyoda also approved the development of the Toyota Prius, which ultimately formed the technological backbone of all current Lexus and Toyota Hybrid vehicles available today.
Competition For Humanity’s Progress
Shoichiro Toyoda, right, at a groundbreaking in 1986.
We’ll conclude this short remembrance with more words from Mr. Toyoda himself. After launching the Lexus LS 400, Schiorichiro said he received a call from Mercedes. The German manufacturer had purchased an LS to study the Lexus because they felt they had been beaten and wanted to win the next round.
To me, this was gratifying. The German company recognized us as a genuine rival. Since then, Toyota and Mercedes have constantly striven to one-up each other with new features. This sort of competition, I believe, has been the driving force for humanity’s technological progress.
Rest in peace, Mr. Toyoda. Thank you for your leadership and the vehicles you helped deliver around the world.
Photos: Toyota Motor Corporation
