Akio Toyoda: The Simple Man Behind Toyota's Racing Success

Akio Toyoda is a simple man with simple goals. His aspirations are straightforward and unassuming, yet he has managed to achieve great success as the CEO of one of the world's largest car companies. Conquering the Nürburgring, dominating the World Rally Championship, resurrecting iconic sports cars, and running the largest car company in the world - these are the objectives that drive Toyoda-san forward.

But who made Toyoda-san into a race car-loving CEO? What is his alter-ego, a straight-up shrub, a little tree? The origin of this unique personality trait remains unclear, leaving us to ponder its significance. As we delve deeper into the world of Toyota Gazoo Racing, it becomes apparent that there's more to Toyoda-san than meets the eye.

Gazoo Racing: A Winning Formula

There are two things you need to go fast; big power and lightweight. This is a mantra that has guided Toyota Gazoo Racing in their pursuit of success. With hours of research and development, the team has brought us this expertise, and we're excited to share it with you.

Toyota Gazoo Racing has achieved remarkable success in motorsport. They have won LeMans four years in a row, consistently placing either first or second in the WRC Constructors Championship for four consecutive years. This year, they added another feather to their cap by winning Dakar, the grueling 9,000-mile off-road race that is notorious for its high number of donut finishes.

Their success is not solely due to hard work; it's also a testament to the influence of motorsport on the design of some of the most significant sports cars of this millennium. The lessons learned in racing have translated to the production line, yielding innovative designs and cutting-edge technology that has taken Toyota to new heights.

A Coincidence or Fate?

One cannot help but wonder if Akio Toyoda's last name is more than just a coincidence. Is it mere happenstance that he happens to be the company president? The answer lies in his dedication to car enthusiast culture, and we're excited to explore this aspect further.

Gazoo Racing Shows What's Possible

Gazoo Racing shows what's possible when passion meets expertise. It demonstrates that with the right mindset and a commitment to excellence, even the most ambitious goals can be achieved. The success of Toyota Gazoo Racing is a testament to the power of innovation and teamwork.

As we conclude this journey into the world of Akio Toyoda and Toyota Gazoo Racing, we're left with a sense of awe and appreciation for the sheer scope of their achievements. Whether it's conquering the Nürburgring or dominating the Dakar rally, these are the moments that make us sit up and take notice. The simple yet unassuming goals of Akio Toyoda have propelled Toyota to new heights, and we can't wait to see what the future holds for this legendary racing team.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- AkioToyoda is a simple manwith simple goals.Conquer the Nürburgring.Dominate the World Rally Championship.Resurrect one of the mostimportant sports cars of all time.Run the largest car company in the world.Simple stuff, you know, like that.But who made Toyoda-saninto a race car-lovingCEO that he is today?Why is his alter-ego a straight up shrub?That's a little tree.And what even the f***k is a gazoo?Grab a Capri Sun and flush your toilet,because this is everythingyou need to knowto get up to speed on gazoo racing.(upbeat music)- Thank you so much for joining me today.There are two things you need to go fast;big power and lightweight.I've spent hours ofresearch and developmentto bring you this.(hip hop music)(all clapping)(all cheering)(upbeat music)- Toyota Gazoo Racing has wonLeMans four years in a row.They've been 1st or 2ndin the WRC ConstructorsChampionship for four years.And this year, they won Dakar;the grueling and deadly,yeah, deadly 9,000-mile off-road racewith nearly as many donot finishes as finishes.And what they've learned in motorsport,has influenced the designof some of the mostsignificant sports carsof this here dang-darn millennium.Now that success is dueto hard work of thousandsof Toyota employees,but the one man who hasmade it all possibleis a car enthusiast by the nameof Akio Toyoda, with a D.(upbeat music)And luckily, his lastname is not a coincidence.He just so happens to bethe company's president.All right, it's a pretty good job.Okay, it's pretty good.I'm not even the president of Donut, okay?Gazoo Racing shows what's possiblefor a "boring" car companywhen the person at the top actually givesa *bleep* about cars.Crazy, right?Akio Toyoda is even called"Master Driver", a title reservedfor the company's highestranking test driver.The coolest job title inthe history of the world.But Toyoda-san wasn't borna winning race car driver.He was born as a businessman,like "Boss Baby".As the grandson of Toyota'sfounder, Kiichiro Toyoda,Toyoda-san was on a path to one daytake charge of the family business.But having the name that'son the sign out front,isn't enough to be put in chargeof an internationalpublicly-traded company.It is for a lot of companies,but props to Toyodas fornot making it all you need.I'm looking at you, Edsel Ford.Toyoda-san had to learn the business.After completing a MastersDegree in Finance in the US,he officially became an employeeof the Toyota Motor Companyin 1984.But let's be clear, Toyoda-sanwasn't just handed the keysto the executive bathroom.No, he had to pee inthe regular old bathroomjust like everybody else.His father, Shoichiro Toyoda,had recently become president.And when Toyoda-san askedabout joining the company,his father was against it.He said that nobody wants tobe the president's son's boss.And we can all identify with that, right?I mean, I watch Succession, okay.Kendall, much?Rory Culkin, Kieren Culkin?You got Macaulay, yougot Rory, you got Kieran.(James smacking)I'm best friends with the Culkins.But Toyoda-san wasn't deterred.He applied and was hiredas a junior managerat the Motomachi Plant.He spent 14 years climbingthat old corporate ladderbefore landing the Vice-President role.It wasn't until 2000,that Toyoda-san finally joinedToyotas board of directors.16 years!? 16 years!?I haven't have done anything for 16 years.And around that same time,two monumental things happenedthat would change the course of his life.He was put in-chargeof an important part ofToyota's marketing strategy:GAZOO.com.Don't worry, we're goingto explain what that means,it's not just a flute that you hum into.And then he met Toyota's thenMaster Driver Hiromu Naruse.Now a bit on Hiromu Naruse:He had applied for ajob with Toyota in 1963.Because he was certifiedin the use of an abacus,he almost became an accountant.Yes, an abacus!They were used by seriousbusiness men in 1960s,they helped send a guy to the moon.But since Naruse was alsoa certified mechanic,the company placed him invehicle testing instead.He really dodged a bullethere in my opinion.Driving cars or do maths?I'm taking cars everyday, baby!He quickly developed a reputationfor telling engineers exactlyhow to improve their cars.Now Naruse's feedback was crucialto development of racecars like the Toyota 7and sports car like the2000 GT and by the 1970s,Naruse was put in chargeof Toyota Motorsportand became chief test driver.Over the next three decades,Naruse shaped the developmentof the Toyota MR2, the Altezzaand the legendary MK4Supra which was developedat the Nurburgring.James May eats the Nurburgring.Because of all that testing,Naruse drove more laps at the ringthan any other Japanese driver.Ferrari test driver called him Nur-masterwhich means master of the Nurburgring.These guys are from f***ing Ferrariand at the timeToyota's unofficial goal wasto make "ever-better"cars, an objective that waslater formalized,thanks to Toyoda-san.Now Naruse said theonly way to build betterwas with drivers and engineerstesting under the mostchallenging conditionsracetracks and motorsports.But by the year 2000,he began to notice achange in the company.(upbeat music)- "Quieter,smoother, better than ever."- Like my aunt's life beforeshe left former-uncle Chris,Toyota had begun to get "beige."Guess what uncle Chris?She's got a freakingbelly-button ring now!Surprise!She's in Toulombwith her 18 year old boyfriend.Ooh, yeah, that sounds good!Many thought the company'sfuture was in the Prius,baby SUVs like the RAV4,and the perennial businesssalesguy car, the Camry.Perhaps Naruse thought the only way Toyotawould ever return to beinga performance powerhouseis if he personally got sassywith some executives, alright.So our boy went and got sassy, y'all!Upon meeting Akio Toyoda in 2001,he reportedly said,"I don't want to hear yougiving me advice about cars,when you clearly don't know how to drive."Then he ripped open his shirtand slapped him on the chest.According to another person in the room,he then offered- or threatened-"I'll teach you how to drive."This is to his boss, bro!That meeting was a wakeup call for Toyoda-san.He completely agreed!He described himself as "just a car lover"who didn't know the first thing abouthow to correctly evaluate a car.So, in 2002, the Toyotaexecutive vice-presidentbecame an apprentice to the master driver.And Naruse was not gonna go easy on him.So he brought Toyoda-santo the Nurburgring!Now, the Nurburgring hasa bit of a reputation.We made a whole video about it;It's in the description below.Calling the track the "green hell"isn't some ironic nickname,like a huge guy named "Tiny."It's actually an incredibly difficultand deadly piece of road.Exact numbers of fatalitiesare hard to come by,but estimates go as highas 12 deaths per year.That's one death a month.Imagine, every time youwrite your rent check,some guy dies.So, Toyoda-san wasbeginning his apprenticeshipon max difficulty.But he also had the best teacher.Now, he just needed the best carand that was a problem.Naruse's car of choice was theNurburgring-tested MK4 Supra,a car Toyota haddiscontinued that very year.But Naruse and Toyoda-san refusedto settle for anything less.So for four years, theytrained at the Nurburgring,driving whatever used Suprasthey could track down.- At that time Suprais no longer in production,no longer sales.All other car makers, their vehicleis the vehicle which theyare going to introducetwo or three year from now.Only Toyota, only myself,is driving used car.- Now, Toyota-san wasn't justlearning how to drive from Naruse.He was learning an entirephilosophy about cars.According to Naruse, "roads make cars".So, to understand what makes a great car,you have to experience lotsof different environmentswhere cars are used, all right.It became clear that turning lap after lapafter lap after lap afterlap after lap after lapafter lap at theNurburgring wasn't enough,Naruse said they needed to go racing.The two decided to build arace team of Toyota employees,to spread Naruse's messageof 'Genchi Genbutsu'-(upbeat music)Naruse had always beencritical of engineerswho stayed behind a desk,so in 2007, they assembleda crew to participatein the 24 hours ofNurburgring endurance race.They were gonna pee in the chairand sit in the chair together.They do pee in the car.Toyota had been active inmotorsports for decades.Racing was in the company'sand Toyoda-san's DNA.In 1952, the founder -his grandfather - said,"Car racing is more than entertainment.It is vital to development."But 50 years later, Toyotawas a different company,and Toyoda-san wasn't president yet.His plan to go racing didn'thave the company's blessing.Now since they weren't anofficial factory-backed team,Toyota refused to provide cars.So, the team went out andbought two used Altezzaswhich was another modelthat had been discontinued.You might know them as thefirst generation Lexus IS carhere in the States.But because this was all unofficial,they weren't allowed to havecars wearing Toyota livery.But since Toyoda-san oversawthe company's Internet presence,their Altezzas wore gazoo.com liveries.And we've come full circle!Okay, so 'gazoo' is kindof a silly word in English.But in Japanese, gazōmeans 'image' or 'picture'and it's the word Toyota chosefor its "visual informationsystems," or terminals.The Gazoo terminals were installedall over Japan in the 90s,so customers could access a Toyota networkand get information about cars.That system evolved into gazoo.com,which functioned as a comboplatter of Facebook and Amazon.So, in 2007, Gazoo Racing was bornwithout factory support or permission,and their first race was covered in a blogon gazoo.com as though theywere just another private team.To help keep their efforts quiet,Toyoda-san entered the raceunder a pseudonym Morizo.Much like the team itself,Toyota's conservative leadershipdidn't approve of whatToyoda-san was doing.They weren't thrilledabout a company executiveparticipating in such adangerous 'hobby' as auto racing.Toyoda-san chose 'Morizo'because it was the nameof a popular mascotat the 2005 World's Expoin Aichi prefecture,home of Toyota.Morizo was a sentient shrub,(upbeat music)or bush promoting a themeof eco-friendliness.I can get behind it.With a rag-tag bunchof drivers, mechanics,and engineers fielding second-hand carsand a chief driver namedafter a freaking bush,Gazoo Racing was set to competein one of the most gruelingraces in the world.Some of the team had neverbeen involved in a race before,which made it a completeshock when they won!(upbeat music)I'm lying, they didn't even come close.The cars finished 104th and 110th overall,which was 14th and 16thout of the 19 entrantsin their class but itwas their first race,and Naruse had set aspecific goal for the team,don't drive to win, drive to learn.The point of doing theNurburgring 24 was thatit subjected the cars to themost extreme circumstancesa road car will ever face.An endurance race doesn't just revealhow well the car performs as a sports car,it teaches you how reliable it is.Figure that out, and you canbuild ever-better road cars.That's a very Toyota wayto think about racing.Not everyone at Toyota wascritical of their efforts.Over at Lexus, they'dbeen working with Naruseon one of their mostexciting projects ever,the V10-powered LFA supercar.So Good!Lexus engineers had donemost of the early testingat the Nurburgring, and to them,Gazoo Racing's first trip tothe ring was a huge success.It was decided that, to bethe best car it could be,the LFA needed to go racing, too.For the next two years, LFA prototypesran the Nurburgring 24 for Gazoo Racing.Again, the mandate wasnot to win, but to learn.But in 2010, that mandate changed.If Lexus wanted to make the LFAone of the greatest cars ever made,they needed to prove that it could win.So what did they do?They freaking won!(upbeat music)The LFA won its class,beating out Audi R8s,Corvettes, BMWs, Porschesand a factory-backed Aston Martin team.Unfortunately, GazooRacing's first victorywas soon overshadowed by tragedy.One month after Gazoo's first win,on the 2-mile roadbetween the 'ring andToyota's development offices,Naruse was fatally injuredin a head-on collision.He was driving a specialNurburgring-editionLFA prototype that he'd spentthe day testing on the track.He somehow ended up on thewrong side of the road,and collided with a BMW-owned test car.Naruse was the only fatality,and the ultimate cause ofthe accident remains unknown.Toyoda-san was obviously heartbroken.He'd lost a mentor and a dear friend.Naruse had been sointegral to Gazoo Racing,his death could have meantthe entire end of it.Toyoda-san was now president of Toyota,and considered shutting down Gazoo,but decided that isn't whatNaruse would have wanted.They had both believed that motorsportwas the key to making "ever-better cars."Gazoo Racing had also movedfrom an off-the-record race teamto a huge marketing success for Toyota.They began producing special"G-sports" editions of carsto capitalize on Gazoo's success,and had begun productionof "GRMN" special editions.Now that stood for"Gazoo Racing tuned by theMeister of the Nurburgring,"a specific reference to Naruse.The GRMN badge lives on,now alluding to the newmaster driver, Morizo.Toyoda-san's alter-ego 'Morizo'has become a bit of a sensation.During Gazoo Racing's early years,he maintained a blog on gazoo.comwhere he talked about driving.His posts often includedcartoon illustrationsof Morizo accompanied by a dog,both wearing Gazoo Racing suits.He describes the Morizo character ashis "invisibility cloak"an alter ego that gives him the freedomto cast off the business suitand stuffiness expectedfrom a Toyota executive,and be the car lover thatNaruse taught him to be.Look, this guy isn't the carcompany president we deserve,he's a car company president that we need!He's a man who passed outself-made inspirationalMorizo stickers at car showsand then did donuts in the parking lot.After taking the helm at Toyota,he famously issued acompanywide decree stating,"No more boring cars,I'm about to freaking fall asleep on here,make something exciting"He is a true, passionate car enthusiast,and he's in charge of thelargest car company in the world.Naruse's philosophy andToyoda-san's passionlaunched Toyota's returnto motorsports dominance.After Naruse's death, Toyoda-sanstepped away from racing,but Gazoo continued at the 'ring,claiming victory in threeseparate classes in 2014,with the LFA and the new Toyota 86.2015 saw Morizo return to competition,where he personallydrove an LFA to victoryat the Nurburgring 24.This guy is the freakingpresident of the f***ing company!That same year saw GazooRacing, Toyota Racingand Lexus Racing unified underthe Toyota Gazoo Racing name,and a new dedicated German factorythat develops and builds theirrace and performance cars.That facility made Toyota's returnto LeMans and the WRC possible,where they've been dominant since 2018.All that racing isn'tjust for bragging rights,even though it's nice; it'sfor making better cars.Since 2009, there have beenmany Gazoo special editions,everything from the tiny IQto the limo-like Century.The latest and greatest is the GR Yaris,an All Wheel Driveturbo-charged mini-monsterinspired by the Gazoo WRC car.This is a rally car for the road,but it wasn't made available in the US.But something is coming.Toyota says that the GRCorolla will be arrivingin October of this year,and it has the samepowertrain as the Yaris.It's a little bigger, alittle fatter but so are we.Gazoo-based special editions are great,but after everythinghe learned from Naruse,Toyoda-san knew that Toyotaneeded to make sports cars again.To ensure that happenedwithout interference,a separate GR brand was launchedand the Gazoo RacingCompany was established.That in-house company wasgiven independent authorityfor the return of the Supra,possibly the most importantnameplate in Toyota's history.During final testing,before the Supra wasapproved for 2019 production,the president of Gazoo Racingwas asked what was left to do.He responded,"We must wait for Morizoto drive the Supraat the Nürburgringand give the final seal of approval."That's what it means tobe a "master driver."At a race in October 2018,Toyoda-san competed inthe Supra prototype,after the race, he spokethe following wordsto the late Naruse."Naruse-san, we have finallycome back to the Nürburgringwith the new Supra."Thank you guys so muchfor watching this videoand everything else on Donut MediaMake sure you don't miss anything:Hit that subscribe button,hit that like buttonto let us know we did a good job.If you want some donutswag, go to donutmedia.com.Really, really excitedabout our merch program.Dropping a new item justabout every week, I love you!