Toyota President and CEO Akio Toyoda becomes first Japanese ‘World Car PERSON of the Year 2021’

Ninety-three recognized international journalists on the World Car Awards jury panel have voted AKIO TOYODA (豊田 章男), President and CEO, Toyota Motor Corporation, as the 2021 World Car PERSON of the Year.

Akio Toyoda is the charismatic President and CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation, where he has spent years successfully redoing his organization. In 2020, under his leadership, Toyota stayed beneficial, notwithstanding COVID-19, accordingly protecting jobs around the world.

He has kept up Toyota’s speed of steady improvement for the Connected, Autonomous, Shared, and Electric era, and he has started construction of the Woven City, an exciting real-life prototype city of the future. All while effectively taking an interest in motorsports himself, as a driver.

Mr. Toyoda said, “On behalf of all 360,000 Toyota Team members around the world, thank you for this tremendous honor! If you don’t mind, however, I would like to change this award from car “person” of the year, to car “people” of the year… because it’s the collective effort of all our global employees, retailers, and suppliers that have truly made Toyota what it is today! And I for one, couldn’t be a luckier… or a more grateful CEO.

I would also like to thank and recognize the contributions of the entire automotive industry.

At Toyota, we are very fortunate that we were able to protect the employment of our team members during COVID and to continue our work to meet the future challenges of our industry. As a company, we are dedicated to providing mobility for all… but we are equally committed to creating new ways to support the well-being of our planet and people everywhere.

This has been a difficult period in the history of the world, but it has also reminded us that people are what matters most… and if we at Toyota, can contribute some measure of happiness to their lives, it will be my never-ending goal to do just that.

Thank you again for this award… and to my fellow car lovers, see you on the track!”

There were five finalists for this prestigious award that was made in 2018 to recognize and celebrate a person who has made a significant contribution to the global automotive industry during the period January 1 to December 31, 2020. That contribution could incorporate a huge effect on their brand or organization or huge security, engineering, design, or technical advancement.

Past World Car Person of the Year recipients were Carlos Tavares, CEO of PSA Group (2020), the late Sergio Marchionne, CEO, FCA; Chairman, CNH Industrial; and Chairman and CEO, Ferrari (2019) and Håkan Samuelsson, President and CEO, Volvo Car Group (2018).

The World Car Person of the Year award is only one of six awards distributed annually by the World Car Awards. The awards were introduced in 2003 and officially launched in January 2004, to reflect the reality of the global marketplace, as well as to perceive, reward, and inspire excellence, leadership, and innovation in a quickly changing automotive industry.