Hiroshi Okuda (奥田碩 ''Okuda Hiroshi''; born December 29, 1932 in

Mie Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture and Kyoto Prefecture to ...

), is the former chairman of the

Toyota Motor Corporation is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

from 1999 to 2006.

Overview

He became president of Toyota in 1995 and has worked at the corporation for 50 years. In 1998, Okuda was selected as a member of the Prime Minister's Economic Strategy Council of Japan and became chairman of the Japan Federation of Employers' Associations in 1999. He has also held the position of chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association since 2000. Okuda holds a 4th dan black belt in

Judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

and graduated from

Hitotsubashi University is a national university located in Tokyo, Japan. It has campuses in Kunitachi, Kodaira, and Chiyoda. One of the top 9 Designated National University in Japan, Hitotsubashi is a relatively small institution specialized solely in social sciences ...

in 1955. Okuda is credited with seeing the need for hybrid cars early and pushing Toyota towards quickly bringing them to market.

References

1932 births Living people People from Mie Prefecture Hitotsubashi University alumni Toyota people KDDI Japan Post Holdings Japanese expatriates in the Philippines Officiers of the Légion d'honneur {{Japan-business-bio-stub