Toyota Motor Corp. President Katsuaki Watanabe may step down next year and be succeeded by Akio Toyoda, grandson of the founder of Asia's largest automaker, people familiar with the matter said, Bloomberg reported.
Watanabe's exit is intended in part to take responsibility for Toyota's forecast this week for a 150 billion yen ($1.7 billion) operating loss for the year ending in March, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because a decision hasn't been announced.
Watanabe, 66, has run Toyota since June 2005, positioning the Toyota City, Japan-based company to pass General Motors Corp. this year for the world sales crown. His tenure also has spanned the 13 percent sales slump through November in the U.S., Toyota's biggest market.
Toyoda, 52, an executive vice president, serves on management boards for Toyota divisions including the unit that handles operations in the Americas. He is the grandson of company founder Kiichiro Toyoda.
Akio Toyoda joined Toyota in 1984, working in a variety of posts before being promoted to a senior management position in 2000. His father, Shoichiro, was the last Toyoda family member to lead the company, stepping down as president in 1992. Shoichiro Toyoda, 83, now is Toyota's honorary chairman.
