In an exclusive interview, Autocar spoke with Toyota's brand new CEO to find out more about his ambitious plans to keep the firm a leading light in global mobility
Within minutes, it’s clear that Sato is the sort of car company boss who is easy to like. Big smile, warm handshake, happy to answer anything and with no pre-vetting of questions. At one point, I ask him if he’s a car guy. While the translator does her bit, he just looks at me, a glint in his eye, and smiles, with both thumbs up. No words needed.
Sato, still wearing his mandatory pit lane overalls and sipping – briefly, prior to it being replaced by a Coke Zero – a celebratory Jupiler beer is beaming as well he might be, given the euphoria around him. “Your newest team member has won every race he has attended,” he jokes as he addresses the waiting throng.
“As you know, I am an engineer,” he says. “For years, I’ve focused on making cars, and I will continue to focus on that as president. Akio’s main fun is driving the cars; mine is engineering them. That should make a good partnership. I’m like the chef cooking the dish and Akio is the diner who loves to eat it.”
“This means the timing for the measures might be different from region to region,” he explains. “We don’t want to leave anyone behind globally. There isn’t one answer but many.”That being so, I ask if he feels that the nations moving faster towards BEVs – Norway and the Netherlands, maybe the UK and Germany – have been poorly served by Toyota and Lexus to date. “It might be true,” he acknowledges.
“Europe and China have hydrogen,” says Sato. “I think it’s important to find a way to use it in an efficient way, not least to improve energy security. As Toyota, we would like to put emphasis also on that development. Akio has been demonstrating a hydrogen [combustion] rally car [a, in which he did last year’s Ypres Rally].
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