Some quotes from the article in Automtive news:[...]Toyoda embarked on a quest to become one of the company’s top certified test drivers and its top car critic. That challenge and journey combined to forge Toyoda’s management priorities, ones that now are reshaping Toyota in a time of crisis.
By getting behind the wheel and scrutinizing product, the 54-year-old Toyoda believes he is living out the company’s guiding principle: “Genchi, Genbutsu” — Japanese for “go and see for yourself.”
“Growth in itself is not bad if you can cultivate the human resources to keep up,” Toyoda said. “But I don’t want to be the largest company in the world. I want to be the best.”
Also in a related article in the same issue on the LFA race team at Nurburgring:
With 15 minutes left in the race, the crews of all teams crowd the outer pit wall to cheer on their drivers. In front of the Gazoo Racing pit, shutterbug Akio is standing on the roof of the team’s signaling booth, snapping photos and waving his support.
A jubilant President Toyoda leads his team to the infield — breaking into sprints at times — and begins passing out Warsteiner beers and posing for team pictures. Then it’s back to the pits, where the entire team proceeds to shower one another with more champagne and beer. In a year of observing and chronicling Toyoda, I’ve never seen the president laugh, let alone smile, so much.
“We started from nothing just four years ago, and here we are today,” Toyoda said before being drenched in beer. “Our people are stronger; our cars are stronger. Our team really did a great job.”
And as the Lexus Enthusiast says:
There’s something so refreshing about President Toyoda’s passion — it’s so clear in everything he does, and it’s that sincerity that makes me so excited about the future of both Toyota & Lexus.
http://lexusenthusiast.com/2010/05/31/akio-toyoda-profile/
