Inaba is currently enjoying an active retirement, as the president of an airport in Nagoya, Japan. The move was confirmed by Mike Michels, vice president of communications at Toyota Motor Sales, who on the other hand said he does not know at this point what exactly Inaba is expected to do or what position will he hold within the company.
The news aroused some suspicion that the Japanese company is planning a massive restructuring of its US operation, as it is faced with the first annual loss since 1950, for its fiscal year which ended in March.
The Wall Street Journal went even further and wrote that Toyota is planning restructuring for all of its manufacturing, financial and sales divisions in the US and appoint Inaba as head of all of these three units.
Mike Michels deemed this information as being "speculative" and added that "none of that can we confirm or will we have any information about," the source reported.
After posting a 39 percent drop in sales in March, Toyota looks with hope at the future, as it said yesterday that recovery is just around the corner. "We will start seeing a gradual rise in car sales. Recovery will be in 2010," he added. "We are not seeing an increase but we are also not seeing a drop-off," Toyota Motor Sales USA President Jim Lentz said.
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