Toyoda Promises Toyota Revival

Despite all those reports claiming that Toyota's new president Akio Toyoda won't bring major changes to the Japanese manufacturer, Toyoda promised a number of steps that will refresh the product lineup. Although he didn't reveal product plans, Toyoda talked about the company's hybrid projects, pointing that the models the Japanese manufacturer has designed so far are a clear sign of strength in spite of a difficult market environment.

"This ship is setting sail in a storm," he told reporters at a Tokyo showroom according to theautochannel.com. "We are making our start from rock bottom."

As said, several auto analysts revealed Toyota won't bring drastic changes in Toyota as he will continue to rely on the plans established by the previous management team.

"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 at Barclays Capital said. "A V-shaped recovery is actually not that difficult if you slash capex and jobs, for instance. Toyota could probably get a restructuring impact of close to one trillion yen. It's not that they can't do it - they won't do it."

"A drastic reform at Toyota would involve cutting back its domestic production base," Tokyo-based Deutsche Securities auto analyst Kurt Sanger said.

Akio Toyoda was appointed president of Toyota to help the manufacturer get out of one of the most difficult economic downturns ever seen. Together with Toyoda, a new management team, comprising of four new executive vice presidents and eight new board members, has moved in to try and put the company back on track.