Toyota Motor : Message from Akio Toyoda to Osamu Suzuki, Senior Advisor of Suzuki and Legendary Automotive Leader of Japan

Akio

Former Chairman and current Senior Advisor Osamu Suzuki gave birth to minivehicles, nurtured them, and advanced them in this country. In other words, I believe that he is the 'father' of minivehicles, which now serve as the 'people's car' of Japan.

(As explained by President Suzuki that minivehicles are 'works of art') Osamu Suzuki may be an 'artist', but, for me, he was a father for the automotive industry in that he played a critical role as the driving force behind Japan's motorization. Although his real son is here two places to my side, I consider him to be one of my fathers.

When he announced his retirement, his words left an impression on me. 'Work makes life worth living. Because continuing to take on challenges is what life is all about, I hope everyone will continue to work. Bye-bye,' he said, concluding with words of appreciation.

For me, that 'everyone' means the 5.5 million people involved in the automotive industry, including those of us here, and I think that his message was for all of them.

During his active career, former Chairman Osamu Suzuki often said: 'We are a small-to-medium size company', even when we were talking about business in India. The two of us were close enough that I could say to him: 'In India, Suzuki is the big company and Toyota is the small-and-medium-size company. Depending on the region, please be careful about calling yourself 'an old man at a small-to-medium size company' (Editor's note: Akio's wording alluded to the title of Osamu Suzuki's first autobiography.).'

As he has passed the baton to our current generation, through working hard, I want to make the 'old man' or 'father' say: 'Thank you for all the good things you have done for the automotive industry and minivehicles.'

I don't know if Senior Advisor Osamu Suzuki is listening to this press conference, but I would like to ask Suzuki executives to report to him about it, and I even hope that the power of the media will help my comments get through to him.