Managing Team's Question-and-Answer Session Delights Employees: All Topics on Table
In a groundbreaking policy briefing held at Toyota's headquarters on April 3, 2023, the automotive giant outlined its vision for "ultimate mobility." This ambitious plan aims to transform Toyota from a traditional car manufacturer into a comprehensive mobility company.
The vision, which emphasizes creating an "ever-better mobility society", focuses on enabling people to move freely, safely, and sustainably with smiles on their faces. Toyota plans to leverage advanced technologies connected to communities and people’s lives, embracing the CASE era (Connected, Autonomous, Shared, Electric) and addressing global challenges such as carbon neutrality by 2050.
Key elements of this vision include developing diverse mobility options tailored to different regions and customer needs, creating sustainable mobility systems that eliminate disparities and provide mobility for all, and utilizing innovations such as smart electric vehicle (xEV) shuttle services and dynamic bus scheduling to enhance urban mobility sustainably.
Toyota also plans to engage with startups and global innovation ecosystems, accelerating mobility technologies that address social and environmental challenges. The company will embed the principle of continuous improvement (kaizen) and respect for people in all mobility solutions, consistent with Toyota’s long-standing philosophy.
President Koji Sato expressed excitement about changing what cars mean and trying to change the future of cars. He suggested that moving the environment could also be considered as mobility, emphasizing the need to broaden the definition of mobility. Vice President Hiroki Nakajima suggested that the ultimate mobility could be people, things, and information moving without borders.
CEO Ogawa discussed the need to focus on areas in North America that have not yet been explored in terms of mobility, such as robot taxis. CEO Ueda discussed the focus on plans made by Japanese people in Japan for the evolution of Toyota in China, and the importance of allowing people in China to make their own proposals for the company’s evolution. He expressed a desire for the regions to be able to tell the head office what they can do and request help.
The Q&A session at the briefing was unscripted and uncensored, allowing for open discussion and questions from all attendees. Chief Production Officer Kazuaki Shingo expressed excitement about working with new members and taking on new challenges. Staff from the Frontier Research Center are developing robotics that could be useful in the future.
Tomikawa made a comment about the importance of a firm foundation of inheritance in achieving evolution. Vice President Miyazaki stressed the importance of gathering information from local levels to provide appropriate responses. He discussed the challenge of providing mobility for all, emphasizing the need to support mobility in any situation and in areas that have not been covered yet.
In sum, Toyota's ultimate mobility vision reflects a holistic approach to integrated, sustainable, and inclusive mobility solutions that go beyond vehicles to transform how people live and move worldwide, striving to create a society where mobility empowers everyone equally.
References:
[1] Toyota Open Labs (n.d.). Retrieved from https://global.toyota/en/openlabs/
[2] Toyota Mobility Foundation (n.d.). Retrieved from https://global.toyota/en/tmf/
[3] Toyota Global (n.d.). Retrieved from https://global.toyota/en/sustainability/vision/2050/
- Toyota's vision for "ultimate mobility" involves leveraging advanced technologies, such as those connected to communities and people's lives, with an emphasis on embracing the CASE era (Connected, Autonomous, Shared, Electric) and addressing global challenges like carbon neutrality by 2050, all while utilizing innovations like smart electric vehicle (xEV) shuttle services and dynamic bus scheduling to enhance urban mobility sustainably.
- The holistic approach to Toyota's ultimate mobility vision encompasses integrated, sustainable, and inclusive mobility solutions that go beyond vehicles, aiming to transform how people live and move worldwide and striving to create a society where mobility empowers everyone equally.
