Toyota president re-elected at the general meeting despite scandals – Observer

Akio Toyoda was re-elected chairman of Toyota’s board of directors this Tuesday, but not without complaints, as some shareholders considered him responsible for vehicle certification scandals.

The 68-year-old president was re-elected at the annual general meeting held at the group’s headquarters in the city of Toyota (central Japan), but the approval rating will only be published on Wednesday, a spokesperson told the news agency France-Presse.

However, the result may be lower than last year (85%) and even further from previous years, when he was general director.

Two large international consultancy companies in matters of voting at general meetings, Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), recommended that the shareholders of the Japanese automobile giant vote against Toyoda’s re-election this year, as they consider the director to be primarily responsible for the scandals. recent.

In recent years, there have been publicized irregularities in vehicle certification tests for the Japanese market within the group, first in some of the subsidiaries (Hino Motors, Daihatsu, Toyota Industries) and, since the beginning of June, in Toyota itself.

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Although the financial impact of these cases is not significant for the group, they damaged its image in Japan, where Toyota liked to consider itself a model of good governance.

Last year, Toyoda handed over the management reins to 54-year-old Koji Sato. But some observers have pointed out that Akio Toyoda, grandson of the group’s founder, may still interfere in decisions behind the scenes.