Toyota Boss Calls For An End to Boring Cars

Toyota President Koji Sato has denounced boring cars, and has vowed his company won’t produce vehicles that are merely “commodities”.

At a presentation of Toyota’s fiscal results, the president was asked his thoughts about the diminishing number of vehicles which are fun and exciting to drive.

“I feel entirely the same way, which is to say, you’re exactly right. A car is not a car if it's not fun. That’s why we will never allow our cars to become commodities,” President Sato responded.

“Gone are the days when everything was determined by logical left-brain thinking, and cars sold by simply having better catalogue specs.”

The comments come just hours before the global reveal of the updated Toyota RAV4.

“We can no longer sell cars just with model updates, slightly better fuel efficiency, or new designs. It comes down to your passion for making products that move people’s hearts,” he said.

“Of course, sportscars need to be sleek, but unless that same passion can be found in other types of cars, you won’t be able to reach customers.

“I’m trying to instill this kind of mindset in each of our project teams. That is the Toyota I want to create, and I will continue working on that this year.”

Before being promoted to the president of Toyota, Mr Sato was the head of the Japanese car giant’s performance division, Gazoo Racing.

He was involved in the development of the Toyota GR86, GR Yaris, GR Corolla, and the GR Supra.

“No doubt we will have more opportunities to talk about exciting cars when the time is right.

“I am not sure that a results briefing is the best place to have that discussion, so let us leave it there for today,” he concluded.