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Five years later, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) has finally welcomed a new helmsman.

President Akio Toyoda will step down at the end of this year, and the next president will be the current vice president, chairman of Isuzu Motors and CEO Katayama Masaji. The appointment will take effect on January 1st, 2024.

It is understood that this is the first time since the founding of JAMA in 1967 that an executive other than the Japanese "Big three" (Toyota, Honda and Nissan) has held the post of president. at the same time, it is also the first time that an executive from a commercial vehicle company has taken the helm of JAMA.

Katayama currently serves as the current chairman of Isuzu and vice president of JAMA, while vice presidents of JAMA include Toyota President Takeshi Sato, Honda President Toshihiro Mitsuba, Nissan President Shigeru Neida, Suzuki President Toshihiro Suzuki, Yamaha engine President Seihiro Nagao, and JAMA Special Director Seiichi Nissan. After Katayama is promoted to the post of president, the above six members will continue to hold the post of vice president.

According to public data, the Japan Automobile Industry Association (JAMA) is regarded as the representative of the Japanese automobile industry. The association was established in 1967 and headquartered in Tokyo. It was formed by the merger of its predecessor, the Automobile Industry Association and the Japan small Automobile Industry Association, and merged the Automobile Industry Revitalization Association and the Automobile Industry operators Union in 2002.

At present, the Japan Automobile Industry Association is composed of 14 production enterprises, and its members cover 14 production enterprises that produce passenger cars, trucks, passenger cars, motorcycles and other motor vehicles in Japan, including Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Isuzu, Subaru, Hino, Daihatsu, Mitsubishi Fusang truck, Yamaha engine, UD truck, Kawasaki.

It is understood that prior to this, the president or chairman of the Japanese "Big three" (Toyota, Honda, Nissan) alternately held the post of JAMA president, once every two years. Akio Toyoda served as president of the Japan Automobile Industry Association from 2012 to 2014, a post that was taken over by executives from Honda and Nissan, including Hirohiko Nishikawa, then chairman of Honda from 2014 to 2016 and Hiroshi Nishikawa from 2016 to 2018. In 2018, Akio Toyoda became president of the association again and has been re-elected since then, breaking the previous practice of changing terms every two years.

During his tenure as president of the Japan Automobile Industry Association, Akio Toyoda overhauled the organizational structure of the association and transformed the Tokyo Motor Show into a Japan Mobile Travel Show. In April 2019, in order to improve the popularity and popularity of the Tokyo Motor Show, Akio Toyoda made a major reform of the Tokyo Motor Show, renaming the Tokyo Motor Show to Tokyo Mobile Travel Show, but the following year the global COVID-19 epidemic broke out and the auto show was suspended for four consecutive years. The first "Tokyo Mobile Travel Show" was not held until October this year.

2023 Japan Mobile Travel Exhibition

In addition, as a representative of the Japanese auto industry, Akio Toyoda also led the Japanese auto industry through the test of the epidemic for three years. It is worth mentioning that during his tenure, Akio Toyoda's many speeches also aroused controversy and attention on the Internet, especially when he repeatedly questioned and criticized the development of electric vehicles in public. At the annual meeting of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association in 2020, Akio Toyoda publicly said that pure electric vehicles were over-hyped and claimed that electric vehicles would kill companies. it also said that the Japanese government did not take into account its real carbon dioxide emissions, the impact on power shortages, the damage to consumers' rights and interests, and the impact on the traditional auto industry.

Nearly three years later, as a staunch opponent of electrification, Akio Toyoda still holds a negative attitude towards electrification. Not long ago, Akio Toyoda said: "the recent slowdown in the company's sales proves that he made the right decision to boycott electric cars. People finally realized the failed reality of this technology and began to look for other ways to achieve carbon neutrality." In his view, carmakers should continue to invest in hybrids rather than fully invest in electric cars.

In addition, at the Japan Mobile Travel Show held in October, Akio Toyoda said in an interview with the media: "Japanese cars must win in the face of Chinese cars." What do you win with? I think it's a point of view to win simply in terms of sales, but Japanese manufacturers transport all kinds of things on the road of the world, and cars transport information and happiness as a mobile means. Japanese manufacturers need to develop new strategies to survive. "

Data show that the market share of Japanese cars is 24.1% in 2020, and there is one Japanese car for every four cars sold in the Chinese market. It should be noted that with the development of intelligence, the automobile market has undergone earth-shaking changes, and new energy vehicles have gradually become the mainstream of the future development of the automobile industry. however, the market share of Japanese car companies in China, which is still immersed in the glory of the fuel car era, is gradually being absorbed by independent brands. According to statistics, in the first half of 2023, China's vehicle exports increased by 76.9% to 2.341 million vehicles compared with the same period last year, while Japanese car exports increased by 17% to 2.02 million vehicles. At this point, China's semi-annual car exports surpassed Japan for the first time, ranking first in the world.

On January 26th Toyota announced that Takeshi Uchiyamada, Toyota's current chairman, would step down as chairman and be replaced by Akio Toyoda, who will step down as chief executive (CEO) and be replaced by Koji Sato, Toyota's chief brand officer and head of the Lexus brand. This is Toyota's replacement of the CEO after 13 years. Toyota said its current chairman, Takeshi Uchiyama, will be replaced by Akio Toyoda, but he will remain on the company's board. In response to Toyota's personnel changes, Akio Toyoda said the new management team "has a mission to transform Toyota into a mobile travel company". At that time, industry media said that Akio Toyoda was likely to continue to be deeply involved in the company's operations as president after leaving office. However, in Japan, the president is usually the top operator of a company, and the president is the "top consultant" who retires to the second line. As for Toyoda Akio retreated to the second line, the industry believes that it is his resistance and conservatism to the pure electric transformation route.

As for the outgoing JAMA president, Japanese media speculated that it may be because Akio Toyoda has been in the post for too long on the one hand and too busy on the other. It is understood that in addition to serving as president of the JAMA, Akio Toyoda is also chairman of the mobile travel committee newly established last year by the Japanese economic giant, the Federation of Japanese Economic organizations. According to Japanese media, as early as the beginning of the year, Akio Toyoda told JAMA that he hoped to step down as president of Toyota in April this year while stepping down as president of JAMA. But for stability reasons, JAMA did not agree at the time, and it is not until now that a new successor has been finalized.

At a news conference on November 22, Akio Toyoda said: "the automobile industry can also be said to be the most important pillar of the Japanese economy in the future. Our group is the core of supporting this industry." However, we are faced with new issues and an era of change. There are many problems in front of us, such as the evolution of automotive technology, the impact on the environment, as well as market changes. Among them, we summarized the topics that need particular attention in the past two or three years into seven, and found that it is not only carbon neutral, but also the lack of drivers representing the '2024 problem', as well as commercial areas with frequent problems such as logistics efficiency and operation management. it should be the current shock generator. The new system of the Japan Automobile Industry Association came into being. "

As for Katayama regular to take over the position of Akio Toyoda, whether there will be any innovation in the Japanese auto industry in the future, there will be more time and market feedback to give the answer.

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