The first speech of the new Toyota president, Kenta Kon, to shareholders showed that the company does not plan to radically change its development strategy. Despite the new leader's financial background, he stated that the main priority remains the creation of higher quality cars. Toyota's annual shareholders' meeting gathered more than 9,000 participants. During his speech, Kon admitted that many were wary of his appointment, as unlike many previous company leaders, he did not come from an engineering or automotive background, but from the financial division.

However, the new president emphasized that he does not intend to manage solely based on financial indicators. According to him, the work directly in production – in the so-called genba, where cars are created and ideas for their improvement are born – plays a crucial role.

Kon noted that he intends to regularly communicate with employees at the plants, find out what problems hinder work, and help eliminate them. In his opinion, this approach is what allows for the creation of truly high-quality cars.

In his speech, the leader paid special attention to the legacy of Chairman of the Board Akio Toyoda. Kon stated that over the past 17 years, the company has learned a lot thanks to the philosophy of "making cars even better," which was actively promoted by the former Toyota president.

Akio Toyoda himself also addressed the shareholders and supported his successor. He humorously recalled Kon's words that he "loves money," noting that it was he who suggested using this phrase. At the same time, Toyoda emphasized that the new president sees not only numbers behind financial indicators, but also the work of employees, their ideas, and efforts.

In addition to the traditional automotive business, Toyota continues to develop the concept of a mobility company. According to Kon, in the future, it's not just about cars, but also about new types of transport – on water, in the air, and even in space. He emphasized that the main goal remains to improve people's quality of life through the development of mobility technologies.

Concluding his speech, the new president admitted that before making important decisions, he often asks himself one question: "What would Akio Toyoda do?" According to him, this principle helps maintain continuity and not lose the values that have made Toyota one of the world's largest automakers.