Akio Toyoda's Toyota

World's biggest car manufacturer, Toyota, got a new president today, as Akio Toyoda was appointed to the new position, to face one of the worst periods the Japanese manufacturer ever experienced. Together with Toyoda, a new management team, made up of four new executive vice presidents and eight new board members, has moved in to try and put the company back on track.

In all, Toyota will be backed by five vice presidents, including Toyoda's father, honorary chairman Shoichiro Toyoda and senior adviser Hiroshi Okuda. The entire board will be made up of 29 members, Autonews reported.

As we reported a few months ago, Toyota will bring back from retirement one of the former company vice presidents, Yoshimi Inaba. He will take charge of Toyota's North American operations.

Takeshi Uchiyamada, the chief engineer behind the first generation Prius, will remain executive vice president, but will no longer be in charge with manufacturing but with research and development. Yukitoshi Funo, Atsushi Niimi, Shinichi Sasaki and Yoichiro Ichimaru, senior managing directors, will be promoted to executive vice president.

All analysts' eyes are now looking to Japan, where the first moves from the new management are expected. No one knows exactly how will Toyoda and his team will be able to get the company back to profit, but the general consensus seems to be they will not make any rush moves.

"They're not going to suddenly change the way they do things to satisfy the short term. I expect the new management's strategy to be an extension of the previous one's," Tsuyoshi Mochimaru, Barclays Capital analyst was quoted as saying by the source.