Akio Toyoda

The third-gen president of Toyota has undergone an image makeover to give the Japanese car brand a much-needed injection of cool.

Toyota – famed for the dependability of its cars rather than the sex appeal of its brand – suffered a major blow to its main selling point when a series of manufacturing errors in 2009 led to the recall of millions of cars.

Six months ago Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda looked like he would have to do the corporate equivalent of hari kari, writes Marc Smith. 

The car company he leads was reeling after a series of scandals, including a range of lawsuits filed following the global recall of more than 8.5 million vehicles in the last 12 months. Toyota had also posted its first financial loss in 59 years on his watch.

Toyota Motor Corporation, the family-controlled automaker, announced this morning it has returned to profit in the first quarter of 2010 despite the problems it is facing due to an ongoing recalls crisis.
 
In a statement released today, Toyota said quarterly revenues had increased to 5.28 trillion yen from 3.54 trillion for the same figure in 2009. The company also highlighted other positives including saving 520 billion yen through cost reduction and 470 billion yen from reducing fixed costs.
 

Toyota Motor Corporation, the family-controlled automaker, announced yesterday it would pay the $16.4 million fine imposed on the company by the US Department of Transport. 

Toyota said it had taken the decision "in order to avoid a protracted dispute and possible litigation, as well as to allow us to move forward fully-focused on the steps to strengthen our quality assurance operations."