丰田幼主吹响汽车霸主回归冲锋号

    他最近驾驶的大多是雷克萨斯车。尽管公司意欲将雷克萨斯发展为全球性品牌，但该产品未能赢得欧洲客户的欢心，老化的设计也无法吸引美国客户。为此，丰田章男绕过了若干管理层级，直接负责该品牌的运作，并耗费了大量时间打磨2013 款GS最新车型的驾乘体验和操控性能。为了打造雷萨克斯更时尚的形象，他还支持开发定价375,000美元的LFA超级跑车，并亲自在德国著名的纽伯格林赛道上，对汽车进行了时速高达180英里的测试。

    在谈到LFA超级跑车时，他说：“这款车型的产量限制在500辆。它可以说是我们的秘密武器。”

    对于一家丰田这种规模的大型企业，掌门人在产品测评和微观管理的细节上耗费如此多的时间，是否合适呢？对于苹果前总裁史蒂夫•乔布斯来说，这种做法确实奏效。丰田章男同样认为，这也是他领导模式的一个重要组成部分。他说：“如你所知，外界评价我们的产品优良，但缺乏感情色彩。我想，丰田有能力改善产品的感情表现力。我们公司有很多能干的工程师正准备在这方面下功夫。因此我认为，现在需要一位领袖激励人们采取行动，在困境之后解决各种问题。”

    周二高层例会进展得很顺利，丰田章男因此得以将更多时间放在了产品开发上。“实际上，我从小就觉得，如果有人对我惟命是从，我会感到很不舒服。给予我大力支持的这五位执行副总都是各自领域内的专家，并且拥有40多年的经验。虽然我是这家公司的最终负责人，（但）我觉得咨询他们的意见也非常重要。”

    日元升值对丰田公司来说是一个重要话题。2007年以来，日元已升值35%，达到65年来的最高点，日元对美元汇率达到77:1，这也导致2011年第三季度丰田公司的利润损失了10亿美元。日元对美元的汇率保持在80:1的水平丰田才能获利。目前公司正与供应商合作以减少成本，但汇率失衡问题已经威胁到了公司未来的发展。直到2006年的手，丰田还只有一半的产量来自海外工厂，而现在已经达到了三分之二。丰田章男承诺，将保留日本国内产能300万量的制造基地，意在保护零部件生产商和熟练工人的供应。但布野幸利表示，这一数字“并不是一成不变的”，公司未来可能会将更多产能转移到美国。

    Much of his wheel time recently has been in a Lexus. Although it is intended to be a global brand, the Lexus has never caught on in Europe, and its aging designs were turning off U.S. buyers. Akio bypassed several layers of management to take direct responsibility for the brand and invested hours fine-tuning the ride and handling of the latest model, the 2013 GS. To give Lexus a sportier image, he also championed the development of the $375,000 LFA, a carbon fiber supercar, and personally tested the car on Germany's famed Nürburgring, where speeds top 180 mph.

    "It has a limited production run of 500 units," he said of the LFA. "It seems to be a very secret sauce."

    Does it make sense for the head of a company as large as Toyota to spend so much time evaluating its products and micromanaging small details? Well, it worked for Steve Jobs, and Akio believes it is an essential component of his leadership. "As you know, our cars are evaluated as good, not emotional," he said. "I think it's possible for Toyota to improve upon the emotion of cars. There are capable engineers who are about to do that. So what I think is needed is to really have a champion to encourage people to take action on that, to serve as a leader to address any problems after a challenge."

    The smooth functioning of his Tuesday morning group makes it possible for Akio to spend more time with product development. "Actually I was very uncomfortable since I was a little boy with so-called yes-men who were just obedient to what I said. These five executive vice presidents who support me are experts in their respective areas, with experience of more than 40 years. I am the ultimate person in charge of this company, [but] I found it is very important to ask them for their views."

    One topic on which advice is plentiful is how to deal with the strong yen, which has appreciated 35% since 2007 and is at a 65-year high. At 77 to the dollar, the currency cost Toyota $1 billion in profit during the quarter ended Sept. 30; Toyota needs an exchange rate of 80 yen to the dollar to remain profitable. It is working with its suppliers to reduce costs, but the currency imbalance threatens the future shape of the company. Already two-thirds of Toyota production comes from overseas, compared with half as recently as 2006. Akio has pledged to maintain a manufacturing base in Japan with a capacity of 3 million cars to protect parts makers and its skilled-labor supply, but Funo said that number "is not carved in stone" and that Toyota may shift more production to the U.S.