In 1995, H. Okuda took the helm of a company facing difficulties at the time and was the first person in several decades not belonging to the founding family. He encouraged the creation of innovative products such as the RAV4 and Prius. At that time, electric cars as a large market prospect were only a dream, and the Prius was the world’s first mass-produced gasoline and electric hybrid. Eventually, Toyota began to dominate this segment and continues to do so.
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H. Okuda also oversaw the opening of Toyota factories abroad as the company sought to surpass General Motors and become the world’s largest car manufacturer by number of cars sold.
H. Okuda, who held a black belt in karate, also led Japan’s largest business lobby organization, Keidanren, and was a close government advisor for many years.
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“Every person is different. But about Toyota, I can say that before I became president, the company was considered very conservative, so I tried to make us more aggressive,” H. Okuda said in a 1998 interview with The New York Times.
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Toyota confirmed H. Okuda’s death but did not provide further details.
