Tokyo (AFP) – Japanese automobile giant Toyota, the world's number one, announced on Friday that it would change its CEO while raising its net profit forecasts for its 2025/26 financial year, strengthening its profitability efforts in the face of the impact of US customs surcharges.

Published on: 06/02/2026 - 10:03

Kenta Kon, 57, the current financial director, will become president and CEO from April 1, in place of Koji Sato, the group announced in a surprise appointment.

Mr. Sato, in place since 2023, took over from Akio Toyoda, the grandson of the group's founder. He was appointed vice-president and director of industrial strategy.

Toyota justifies this change of role by an urgent need to improve its profitability: this reshuffle "aims to accelerate managerial decision-making in response to changes in the internal and external environment", he argues.

For his part, Mr. Kon, who joined Toyota 35 years ago, became the personal secretary of former CEO Mr. Toyoda in 2008, a position he held for about eight years, according to Bloomberg, before joining the group's financial affairs and presiding over years of record profits.

This unexpected announcement coincides with the publication of its quarterly results, better than expected by the market, and a further increase in its forecasts for the financial year ending at the end of March.

Toyota now expects an annual net profit of 3,570 billion yen (19.3 billion euros), down 25.1% year-on-year, but higher than previously anticipated (2,930 billion yen).

It also forecasts annual sales up 4.1% over one year, to 50,000 billion yen (271 billion euros), revised slightly upwards. Likewise, operating profit is expected higher than previously forecast.

“Despite the persistent impact of US tariffs, strong demand, supported by the competitiveness of our products, led to an increase in sales volumes, and we achieved a high level of profit thanks to price adjustments,” argued the manufacturer.

-"Cost reductions"-

Japanese automobile exports were subject to customs surcharges of 25% between April and September by the United States, before capping at 15% thereafter.

Despite this, Toyota's sales in the United States increased by 8% over the calendar year 2025. This is a key market where the group generates almost a quarter of its sales.

Anxious to limit the impact, it increased its production in its American factories by 10% last year, thanks in particular to the renewed popularity of gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles.

But out of 2.52 million Toyota vehicles sold last year in the United States, only 1.39 million were produced in the group's 11 American factories, almost half remaining imported and subject to customs taxes.

“Despite this negative impact that emerged this fiscal year, we mitigated the decline in profits through cost reductions and marketing efforts,” the company said.

Toyota estimates the impact of US customs taxes on its operating profit for the 2025-2026 financial year at 1.45 trillion yen, a cost equivalent to 7.8 billion euros.

To continue to export under competitive conditions to the United States, Japanese manufacturers have had to lower their export prices so as not to pass on this additional customs cost.

Even if it means cutting into its margins: in the third quarter (October-December) of its financial year, Toyota posted a net profit down 43% year-on-year, to 1,257 billion yen (6.8 billion euros).

While its turnover increased by 8.6% to 13,457 billion yen (72.8 billion euros), boosted by solid global sales despite a further decline in China in December.

Finally, the management reshuffle comes at a time when Toyota is seeking to take control of its industrial subsidiary Toyota Industries and take it off the stock market, through a public purchase offer which closes next week.

Toyota Motor only owns around 25% of this subsidiary, which supplies industrial components and equipment.

The deal faces strong opposition from activist investment fund Elliott Investment Management, which believes the proposal undervalues ​​the company and has made the potential takeover a test of corporate governance reforms in Japan.

© 2026 AFP

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