UMW Toyota Motor (UMWT) has announced the appointment of Takashi Obata as its new deputy chairman. Obata, whose tenure begins February 1, replaces the long-serving Akio Takeyama who has held the role for over seven years.
Obata brings with him no less than 30 years of experience in Toyota Motor Corporation, overseeing sales and product planning for the global market. With UMWT, he is committed to adapt to CASE (short for Connected cars, Autonomous driving, Shared and Electric) and carbon neutrality.
“This is a priority that is aggresively being pursued by Toyota globally and has already started in Malaysia with the recent launch of the Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid. I am honoured to have been entrusted this role to navigate the business towards this direction,” he said.
“I would like to thank my predecessor Akio Takeyama for leaving behind an incredible legacy during his time with UMW Toyota Motor. This role will undoubtedly be a challenging one but I am confident that we will be able to achieve many more milestones in the years to come,” Obata added.
Under Takeyama’s leadership, the company achieved many significant milestones, including the launch of its state-of-the-art Bukit Raja manufacturing plant (now recognised as the top quality and productivity Toyota plant in Asia), the introduction of Gazoo Racing (the cars and festival), as well as leading the Toyota brand to the top of the non-national sales chart.
“I have been very blessed to have been given the privilege to serve in Malaysia over two tenures. Throughout my two assignments in Malaysia totaling 12 years, I had two key phrases I always kept in mind – ‘Reborn’ and ‘Change & Challenge’. My time here in Malaysia was spent in pursuit of ever-better cars and the best customer services while continuously contributing to the Malaysian automobile industry,” Takeyama noted.
“The years I have spent in this beautiful country were truly wonderful and exciting, filled with so many significant events, milestones, challenges and accomplishments. These would not have been possible without the strong support from my team and all our stakeholders,” he added.
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Welcome to Malaysia Obata-san.
Please enjoy.
Knew it that UMW Toyota is not managed by UMW but via Toyota themselves. So all the bad decisions and outdated specs brought in are the fault of Toyota management. Shame on you.