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Toyota Holders OK Founder's Grandson as Head

The Associated Press

By Yuri Kageyama

TOYOTA, Japan -- Toyota(TM Quote) shareholders approved the appointment of the company founder's grandson Akio Toyoda as new president, hoping that reaching back to the automaker's family roots will help steer the manufacturer out of its worst ever crisis.

More than 3,300 shareholders packing a hall at Toyota headquarters -- a record attendance -- showed their approval by applause for the selection of 29 new directors, mostly company executives and directors, including Toyoda.

Toyoda faces the daunting task of reviving the world's largest automaker, which lost 436.9 billion yen ($4.6 billion) during the fiscal year ended March, its worst loss since it was founded in 1937. The company expects an even wider loss this year.

Toyoda, 53, will formally become president at a directors' meeting later in the day. He will replace Katsuaki Watanabe, who presided over the shareholders' meeting in this central Japanese city that shares its name with the corporation. Reporters saw the proceedings live on a TV monitor at Toyota headquarters.

Toyoda, the grandson of founder Kiichiro Toyoda and the son of Shoichiro Toyoda, a former president, spoke only once in the meeting, in his role as executive vice president overseeing Japan sales.

He responded to the worries of a shareholder about the delay in Prius hybrid deliveries because production hasn't kept up with booming demand, with deliveries not arriving until about November.

"We are very sorry to make customers wait," he told shareholders, standing at the corner of the stage with other executives. He assured shareholders everything was being done to boost production.

(The founder's family name is spelled with a "d," but the company name was changed to Toyota because that was considered luckier.)

Many Japanese companies, including conservative ones like Toyota, don't allow incoming chief executives to speak up too much because of protocol until their taking the helm becomes official.

Watanabe, the current president, did almost all the talking at the two-hour shareholders meeting, although other executives in charge of technology and production methods answered some investor queries.

Watanabe had led Toyota since 2005 on an aggressive, and until recently a largely successful, growth track.

The company, which makes the Camry sedan and Lexus luxury line, has been hit hard by the global slump as buyers hold off from buying cars, particularly in the U.S., Europe and its home market of Japan.

Watanabe said the outlook in the U.S., traditionally its most profitable market, is "unclear," according to a Bloomberg report.

"Right now, we can see recovery in some markets, but in the U.S., it's still not transparent," Watanabe said.