TOKYO (AP) 鈥� Shoichiro Toyoda, who as a son of the company鈥檚 founder oversaw Toyota鈥檚 expansion into international markets, has died. He was 97.
Toyoda, the company's honorary chairman, died Tuesday of heart failure, Toyota Motor Corp. said in a statement.
He was the father of Akio Toyoda, who recently announced he was stepping down as president and chief executive to become its chairman. Shoichiro was the eldest son of Kiichiro Toyoda, who founded Toyota in 1937.
After becoming Toyota's president in 1982, Shoichiro Toyoda helped direct Toyota鈥檚 transformation into a global automaker, especially in the vital U.S. market, where its brand became synonymous with quality, durability, cost performance and engineering finesse.
Both father and son experienced the difficult years of 鈥淛apan-bashing,鈥� when powerful Japanese exporters like Toyota were blamed for taking away American blue-collar jobs.
The company opted to become a member of the U.S. auto community, showing that Toyota was an asset, creating jobs and value for the American people.
With his brother Tatsuro, Shoichiro Toyoda helped pave the way for Toyota to set up manufacturing facilities in North America. The company formed a joint venture with General Motors in 1983. It was called New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., or NUMMI, and its first vehicle rolled out in 1984 in Freemont, California.
The company relied on the founding family's legacy and historical charisma to tide it through times of crisis, although Toyota has had many chief executives who were not members of its founding family.
Shoichiro Toyoda was inducted into the U.S. Automotive Hall of Fame in 2007, honored for his achievements in cementing 鈥淭oyota鈥檚 reputation as one of the most recognized and celebrated auto manufacturers in the world.鈥�
He was graduated from the prestigious Nagoya University in 1947 with a degree in engineering and joined Toyota in 1952.
It鈥檚 said that he earned the respect of fellow employees by working right beside them in factories. That underscored Toyota鈥檚 vision of valuing the workplace, what鈥檚 on the ground, or 鈥済enba,鈥� as critical for morale, efficient production, innovation and quality.
Toyota鈥檚 beginnings were humble. Shoichiro Toyoda 鈥檚 grandfather, Sakichi Toyoda, invented the automatic loom in a backyard shed, mainly because he wanted to help his mother, who often was weaving in their home.
People were skeptical when Kiichiro Toyoda said he wanted to start building cars in 1933. Back then, Japan only had imported cars like GMs and Fords.
Today, 鈥淭he Toyota Way,鈥� a production method that empowers each worker for quality control, is viewed as the best in the auto industry. Toyota, which makes the Prius hybrid, Camry sedan and Lexus luxury models, is among the world鈥檚 top automakers in vehicle sales.
A funeral for Shoichiro Toyoda was being held for close family. A 鈥渇arewell鈥� event in his honor was being planned for a later date, according to Toyota. Details of other surviving family members were not immediately available.
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Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
Yuri Kageyama, The Associated Press
