At the annual shareholders' meeting at its headquarters in Aichi Prefecture, nine other board members, including President
The scandals and the group's corporate governance were central themes at the meeting's question and answer session, attended by 4,656 people. Attendees were up by 882 from last year despite the rainy weather, highlighting a high level of interest in the matter among the shareholders.
Confronted with questions regarding his management, Toyoda defended his approach, saying he is making sure he leaves making decisions up to a younger generation and that he only acts as an advisor.
"I will lead reforms as a person responsible for the whole group," the Toyota founder's grandson said.
Prior to the meeting,
Another
Toyoda's reappointment was widely anticipated given his popularity among individual investors and the company's record profits in the last fiscal year, as well as years of cross-shareholdings with its business partners.
At the meeting, Sato pledged the world's biggest auto group would improve compliance while apologizing for its vehicle test fraud cases in
"We are trying to reform the foundation of our corporate culture," Sato said.
In January this year, affiliate
The transport ministry has ordered a shipment ban on three of the affected models currently on the market.
All the affected models were rolled out when Toyoda was in his previous role as president.
==Kyodo
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