"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," he 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.
"But that probability is low. And with 50% of its production in Japan and the dollar at JPY95, even if the US market returns to 16m units tomorrow, they'll still be making less profit than before."
As we told you this week, 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.
Additionally, Toyota also announced several other personnel changes, as it follows: Takeshi Uchiyamada, the chief engineer responsible for the first generation Prius, will remain executive vice president, and 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.
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