The Prius That Shook.. - VFAQ Prius Site

Chapter 4
Sudden New President - Hiroshi Okuda
It was exactly 2:45 p.m. on August 10, 1995. There was an
unusual feeling of heat and excitement in the seventh-floor
conference room of Toyota's Nagoya Building located just
north of Nagoya City's largest commercial center, Sakae-cho.
Just one hour earlier, every major media company in the city
had been called by Toyota's Public Affairs Division and told,
"At 3:00 p.m. today, we are holding a press
conference to release the names of our new Board members."
Although that was the only announcement from Toyota,
reporters known as "Toyota Guards" because they covered
automotive news immediately understood the situation.
"Damn, they did it. They are introducing the new President..."
Shoichiro Toyoda's younger brother Tatsuro Toyoda was
the President at that time but he had been ill for some time.
After a visit to China in February, he had fallen ill and had
been unable to work. Although the illness had been official
described as "a condition due to high blood pressure," the
nature of his actual illness was not known. Tatsuro Toyoda
had cancelled all of his public appointments and had been
rumored to be in "serious condition." Nevertheless, the
company had given out
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