Katsuaki Watanabe
Born on February 13th 1942, Katsuaki Watanabe is the current Toyota Motor Corporation vice chairman. The Toyota multinational company, which is headed in Japan, is considered to be the world’s biggest manufacturer of automobiles by sales. Previously, he served as the company’s chief executive officer and president until Akio Toyoda was appointed those positions last June 2009.
He spent his early childhood in Mie Prefecture, Japan but he now resides in Toyota City. Watanabe, who is married and has three children, is an amateur musician who sings in a men’s choir. He also is fond of playing golf and tennis.
In 1964, the year Watanabe graduated from the Keio University with an economics degree, he was employed at Toyota. Since then, he has earned experience in the company’s wide range of activities, including administrative affairs and corporate planning. By 1988, he became Toyota’s general manager of the secretarial division. A year later, he was transferred to the corporate planning division and appointed general manager.
During his work as the corporate planning division general manager, Katsuaki Watanabe focused on charting and articulating a long-term vision for Toyota operations across the globe. In 1992, he became a member of the Board of Directors and continued to manage the company’s production control, including administering the Motomachi Plant, which develops passenger cars. After seven years, he acted as the senior managing director, after which—in 2001—he was appointed executive vice president. Finally in June 2005, succeeding Fujio Cho, Watanabe was chosen as Toyota Motor Corporation’s president and chief executive officer.
As the current leader of the company, Katsuaki Watanabe is acknowledged for making the decision to establish a manufacturing plant located in San Antonio, Texas, USA to build pickup trucks.
In 2005 and 2007, he was among those listed in Time Magazine’s 100 most influential persons.