Toyota Leaders Return Bonuses to Daihatsu
Toyota executives have decided to return their bonuses to Daihatsu, following the strong restructuring of the company due to years of collision test scandals.
Former Chairman Sunao Matsubayashi, former CEO Soichiro Okudaira (Yusuke Takeda), Deputy CEO Hiromasa Hoshika, Director Yusuke Takeda (former Sales and Customer Service Director), Director Toshinori Edamoto (former Business Management Director), and five other directors will return the bonuses they received for the 2023 fiscal year.
The top three senior executives – Matsubayashi, Okudaira, and Hoshika – will return 100% of their bonuses. Directors Takeda and Edamoto will return 50%, while the remaining directors will return between 10% and 50%.
As part of the new structure, the titles of Chairman of the Board, CEO, and Deputy CEO will be abolished at Daihatsu.
The working culture will also be changed to eliminate the practice of “chasing deadlines” at the expense of quality and safety requirements.
Specifically:
- Reduce written reports from employees to managers and instead use digital tools for more efficient task completion.
- Evaluate projects based on development timelines, with visual alerts triggered if any abnormalities are detected.
- Establish a system that allows for flexible work practices, where individuals can slow down to support each other.
Toyota gained full control of Daihatsu in 2016. In the same year, the Japanese automaker entrusted Daihatsu with the responsibility of developing (including testing) small cars (A and B segments) for emerging markets such as Southeast Asia. At that time, Toyota mainly played a role in initiating the project, overall management, and receiving the final developed products.
Business Today