Happy New Year to you all. I'm delighted to be able to welcome the new year in good health with you all. I'll do my best to ensure this message speaks to the heart.
Last year, we reflected on the meaning of “arigato” and resolved to make it a year in which we value smiles and gratitude. In December, to express gratitude to our colleagues and stakeholders worldwide, we held TOYOTA ARIGATO FEST.2025. “Never take anything for granted.” “Create the future together.” Guided by Akio’s beliefs, Toyota united globally, sharing countless thank yous and smiles.
I felt deeply grateful to have colleagues worldwide who demonstrate being Best in Town and realized how important it is to turn our appreciation into action. So, today, I'd like to begin by expressing my gratitude to all of you.
We faced many hardships over the past year. Even so, to everyone across the company who worked so hard for our customers and for one another, thank you very much.
“Let’s focus on making and delivering quality cars.” With that in mind, we have all worked together to move forward. In certification work, we've strived to improve individual awareness and work processes, so we can consistently carry out correct work.
Launching new cars must've been challenging with changes in certification and quality. We were able to launch new cars thanks to everyone on the front lines who kept things moving forward, working tirelessly to the very end.
Overseas, the competitive environment grew even more severe. Even so, we remained committed to putting the customer first and improving quality and services from production to sales.
And then in September, our Porto Feliz Plant in Brazil was hit by a tornado. That's when I felt the strength of our global Toyota team. Teams in Japan and Indonesia immediately sprang into action to launch backup production. They gave it their all to support their colleagues in Brazil.
I'd like to thank everyone who rushed to Porto Feliz and supported the plant’s recovery with our suppliers, and all those still working toward resuming local production.
The passion and actions of everyone on the front lines, as well as the hard work of our suppliers and dealers, enabled us to produce 9.94 million vehicles last year and deliver them to our customers. I would like to express my sincere gratitude.
On the other hand, we still face many challenges. Although last year’s downtime was less than the year before, downtime due to quality or facility issues is increasing. Customers continue to experience inconveniences both in sales and services. In Japan, customers still cannot even enter into discussions to purchase the cars they want. We must all keep making improvements together to properly make and deliver quality cars.
Let me share what kind of year we need to make it. Based on what we've done, we need to move on from strengthening our foundations and make this year an intentional pause. Over the past two years, we've worked hard to free up some time and focus more on what we need to do and what we want to do. It was time well spent, especially at production sites, where frontline teams continued kaizen.
However, there was something we couldn’t fully complete. That is to increase the earning power we need in order to keep doing what we want to do. Without it, we cannot make cars or take on future challenges.
At last year’s Japan Mobility Show, we were able to present various future possibilities. What we do today will determine our earning power for supporting the future. Personally, I feel I have not done enough. That is precisely why, this year, we must first take a hard look at our true capabilities.
Having done that, I want all of us to work together to raise our “net rate of work.” At the core, I believe this is about making ever-better cars. It is because products—cars—are at our core that our customers choose Toyota. Unless everyone working at Toyota continues to make efforts, we'll lose that strength.
Thinking of that reminds me of something. It was the moment in April 2009, when I first heard the words “Let’s make ever-better cars!” We had fallen into the red for the first time since our founding days. What did Chairman Toyoda convey to us when he became president, facing such adversity? I wanted us to reflect on that together. I'd like to take a moment here to share that video. Please watch.
What did you think? “Let’s make ever-better cars!” This was my reaction to hearing those words. I wanted to know what an ever-better car was supposed to be and what the president wanted us to make. Without knowing that, we can't do it. That was how I honestly felt.
But because we didn’t get it, we struggled, and finally decided to just try something. And so we began searching for an answer. As we did so, then-President Toyoda told us the same thing he had always said in the genba when I worked with him on various development projects: “Let’s just make cars with good fundamentals.” That focus led to our TNGA initiative and, eventually, to our current lineup of long-selling cars and to ever-better motorsports-bred cars.
At the time, I think that Chairman Toyoda wanted to say more. He no doubt had many ideas in mind. But he chose not to spell out what kind of cars he wanted us to make. Why was that? Looking back, I think it was because he believed in the genba's thinking power. I think it was because the chairman strongly believed that there were wise and skillful people at Toyota, and by drawing out their passion and ideas, he was determined to bring back the Toyota way.
Our DNA can be summed up in the words “Good thinking, good products.” This motto was established in 1953, when Toyota had neither money nor achievements, with a desire to create good products based on wisdom. Value thinking power and pursue high quality and affordability. I believe this is the Toyota Way of pursuing kaizen and taking on new challenges in all of our workplaces, and an important mindset as we embark on this year of intentional pause.
I hope you will remember this every time you see the “Good thinking, good products” banner. Let us ask ourselves again what making ever-better cars truly means, and struggle together, turning such thoughts into action.
One more thing. As an engineer at the time, I thought making ever-better cars meant technological development. I believed that it was about us in engineering doing our best. And then, when I first became president, I thought that as a leader I had to clearly define what to do, take the lead, and work hard at that myself.
However, as I ran into various challenges and struggles, I came to realize that I was wrong about my role. Our plant and R&D employees working to adapt to change, our overseas members protecting our bonds with our customers, and all of our members supporting the very foundation of carmaking. The more I visited the genba, the more I learned about the hardships, efforts, and feelings of our members there.
Carmaking is something that we all do together, transcending divisions, companies, and regions. Regardless of circumstance, we have people who keep working hard, step by step. That is the strength of Toyota’s genba. I've felt it firsthand.
That's why our role this year is to connect everyone beyond functions and make work easier, so we can maximize our frontline capabilities. We'll work hard to make this happen. That's why we want to know more about your hard work and create an environment where everyone can do what they want to do. For that, I want to faithfully fulfill my role, in whatever form it takes.
From here on out, there'll be many things we need to do, stop doing, or even give up on. Many things may not go as planned. Even so, to move forward, we must struggle. I will do my best and work hard to set an example. I'm sure many of you have colleagues who are watching and learning from you. Let us think and struggle together.
A year of intentional pause... We need to ask ourselves what kind of future we want to leave behind. Toyota’s “TO YOU” vision is based on the idea of doing work to bring smiles to the faces of each of our customers. We make 10 million cars a year. Yet no two cars are the same. The car we just made will go to a different customer from the next one. We put our heart into each vehicle for the smiles of each customer. That is “Producing Happiness for All.”
Each of you has a different role. Every improvement in carmaking, multi-pathway initiatives, and new mobility initiatives will all link to our customers’ smiles. With those in mind, I want to think carefully about what we can do for the smiles of the future and act with intention this year. Let us all work hard together to make ever-better cars and to change the future of cars! Thank you very much for listening.
