President and CEO of Toyota, Akio Toyoda, has been named the 2021 World Car Person Of The Year. During the tough 2020 year affected heavily by the COVID-19 pandemic, Akio Toyoda and his men had a successful year and protected numerous jobs.
Born on 3 May 1956, Akio Toyoda studied at Keio University and has done Masters of Finance from Babson College in Massachusetts. He joined his family business in 1984. Akio Toyoda loves driving and is an avid motorsport fan. It comes as no surprise that he wants Toyota to be active in Motorsports. Toyoda himself participated in the 2009 24 Hours Nürburgring race as a driver.
Akio Toyoda said: “On behalf of all 360,000 Toyota Team members around the world, thank you for this tremendous honour! If you don't mind, however, I would like to change this award from car “person” of the year, to car “people” of the year... because it's the collective effort of all our global employees, retailers and suppliers that has truly made Toyota what it is today! And I for one, couldn't be a luckier... or a more grateful CEO.
