Ex-Toyota, Keidanren Chief Hiroshi Okuda Dies at 93

Nagoya, Aug. 12 (Jiji Press)–Hiroshi Okuda, who served as president and chairman of Toyota Motor Corp. and chairman of the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, died at 93, it was learned Wednesday. Born in the city of Tsu, Mie Prefecture, central Japan, Okuda graduated from Hitotsubashi University’s Faculty of Commerce and Management and joined Toyota Motor Sales Co. in 1955. The company later merged with Toyota Motor Co. to form today’s Toyota Motor Corp., where he became president in 1995. Okuda was the first person from outside Toyota’s founding family to assume the presidency in 28 years. As president, Okuda revived Toyota, guided by his management credo that “not changing is evil.” He accelerated Toyota’s overseas expansion by opening new plants in Europe and the United States, while the launch of the Prius hybrid helped Toyota take the lead in environmental technology. Through these initiatives, Okuda laid the foundation for Toyota’s rise to be the world’s largest automaker. He served as Toyota chairman from 1999 to 2006. In 1999, Okuda became chairman of the Japan Federation of Employers’ Associations, known as Nikkeiren. He brokered its long-awaited merger with the former Federation of Economic Organizations, or Keidanren, and served as the first chairman of new Keidanren from 2002 to 2006. Seeking to restore the waning influence of Japan’s business community, Okuda resumed Keidanren’s involvement in political donations. Keidanren had abolished its system of allocating donation amounts among member companies in 1993, amid criticism of cozy ties between politics and business. Involvement in political donations had been regarded as taboo since then. Under a new system encouraging member companies to make donations based on evaluations of political parties’ policies, he put into practice his oft-stated view that the business community should “put up money and speak up.” Okuda also served as a private-sector member of the government’s Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, which was established in 2001, and promoted structural reforms centered on deregulation under then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. In 2012, Okuda became the first president of the government-backed lender Japan Bank for International Cooperation, or JBIC, which was established as an independent institution after being spun off from Japan Finance Corp. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]