Akio Toyoda Won: Toyota Isn't Boring Anymore

The release of a new Toyota used to bring about as much buzz as your local youth pastor sitting on his chair backward and asking, "You know who was a really groovy guy?" So when former President and CEO Akio Toyoda declared "no more boring cars" in 2017, we were more than skeptical. Almost everything the company made from the late 1990s right on up until 2015 was a snoozefest. But Toyoda was the man in charge, and he was sick of the company's boring reputation.

After the financial crisis and a massive recall (that eventually lead to a billion-dollar class-action lawsuit settlement) surrounding unintended acceleration left Toyota in the red in 2009, the company's status as the world's largest automaker was genuinely at risk. At the same time, Toyoda was appointed CEO and president. He was thrown right into the fire and has said that his tenure over the last 13 years has been about survival. It's no wonder that Toyota vehicles were so inoffensively styled for so long: The automaker was trying to stay alive by playing it safe.

But a number of key new products — plus Toyota's unique ability to weather the coronavirus pandemic, having already dealt with supply chain issues in the wake of the devastating 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami — resulted in Toyota being the best-selling automaker in the world (and one of its most interesting) in 2022. So how did this happen? Certainly not overnight.

The new Corolla debuted in 2018 — brows furrowed and eyes narrowed — genuine interest in a Corolla? That seemed impossible just a generation ago. Then a new Avalon with a gaping maw and a sharp design that made the Nissan Maxima and entry-level Dodge Charger models look a little safe, not something you'd ever have said about an Avalon before. Toyoda wasn't just keeping his promise — it was clear by now he was on a warpath. The new crop of Toyotas weren't exactly classically beautiful but they at least captured your attention, a major departure from the bland malaise that Toyota had come to be associated with over the previous 25 years.

I'm of course omitting the Scion FR-S (what eventually became the Toyota 86 after Scion's death) because at the time of its initial release in 2013 it felt like a one-off. Toyota had one leg to stand on in the "fun" department, and it wasn't even totally its own car. It was a collaboration with Subaru, a company that had plenty of experience making engaging and hilariously fun compacts. But then another collaboration, this time with BMW. The Supra was back, and while it wasn't perfect, it was more than just an unfulfilled promise. It was real, and despite some flaws Toyota is still ironing out to this day, it was a hugely capable sports car at a relatively affordable price — something the world was running out of.

The surprisingly slick new Venza was so nice it was almost a Lexus, then the GR Yaris (which we Americans lusted after from afar) was unleashed on Europe and set hearts there alight, then a new Tundra that had style and substance, and then a new nameplate we hadn't seen in the U.S. in decades: The Crown was back. It isn't exactly game-changing, but a funky lifted, half-hatchback, half-sedan thing with the face of a prehistoric fish species is a chance that Toyota wouldn't have dared take 10 or even five years ago.

We're not even close to done. The rebirth of the 86 into the GR86 for a second generation for the diminutive sports car was shocking. It was an improvement over the old car in nearly every way, and it was still affordable, attainable fun. It was also still a collaboration with Subaru, but that didn't seem to matter so much anymore. We were all just happy they both existed (we still are).

But the icing on the cake has come in the last 12 months. The GR Corolla is the hot hatch we thought Toyota was simply incapable of building. It's a frizzy, messy little hair-on-fire maniac and it is an absolute riot once you get behind the wheel. There isn't much like it on the market today, and we're talking about a Corolla, of all things. Then the Supra got its long-awaited manual and it seems like Toyota's transformation is pretty much complete.

After what was already a years-long highlight reel, we get a new Prius. Wide-eyed and slack-jawed, we gazed upon what was the most impressive transformation since Steve Carell's glow-up. The all-new Tacoma (with its long list of trims and features) was engineered by Americans for the American market. You get the idea by now. Toyota has been releasing some of the most interesting, not-boring-at-all cars as of late. They're taking risks and creating an all-new brand identity, while rivals like Honda and Subaru are content to just rehash the same idea.

The bulk of Toyota's work over the last five years has been nothing short of impressive, but Toyoda's tenure hasn't been without fault. In 2021 The New York Times reported that Toyota was actively lobbying against the Biden administration's push to incentivize the adoption of battery electric vehicles, arguing that hybrids and hydrogen-powered vehicles should be thrown into the mix. Toyoda himself has argued against EVs, claiming they aren't as clean as some think due to emissions from power plants (a claim we disprove here).

Some called Toyoda's attitude toward electric cars short-sighted, and he has since said that his comments were misinterpreted. According to The Times, Toyoda believes electric cars are an important option, but that they aren't the only way forward. His words aren't without corresponding action either, and the company has recently pulled a massive U-turn on EVs. In 2021 it announced that it will spend $1.29 billion on a new battery factory in the United States and a total of $3.4 billion on "automotive batteries" in the U.S. While it must be said that the bZ4X was a disappointing first effort, the automaker's huge investment in battery tech will surely go a long way in rectifying that misstep.

At his core Toyoda is a car maker, and he has said that idea limits him. Toyota, on the other hand, is a massive organization with the goal of becoming a mobility company that does more than just build cars. He said he hopes that Toyota eventually pushes past his limits, but with Toyoda officially having stepped down from his position as CEO earlier this year, we're left with a little cliffhanger. Is Toyota going to go back to playing it safe or are the last five years just the start? The hope is it's the latter. The signs, for now, are good. His successor, Koji Sato, "loves cars," per Toyoda, and Sato comes straight from Lexus top brass, a brand that hasn't exactly been playing it safe lately either.

Edmunds says

We don't know what the future holds for Toyota. All we know is that thanks to Toyoda's leadership, we won't be so skeptical about whatever it comes up with next.