Toyota says replacing Akio Toyoda as president and CEO

Toyota named Koji Sato as its new president, CEO, and operating officer Thursday, replacing third-generation chief executive Akio Toyoda -- who will become board chairman.

The Japanese car giant, currently the world's top-selling automaker, said in a statement that the changes to its executive structure will be effective from April 1.

Toyoda, 66, became Toyota's youngest president in 2009, as the firm returned to its family foundations after the global financial crash.

He is the grandson of company founder Kiichiro Toyoda. His father Shoichiro Toyoda also led Toyota in the 1980s and 90s.

After a bumpy start at the helm, he became known as a charismatic leader tasked with navigating a period of major upheaval for the auto industry.

He steered the group through a quality-control scandal that saw him apologise before the US Congress, and supply chain chaos caused by Japan's 2011 quake and tsunami.

More recently, he has worked to strengthen Toyota's ambitions in the key electric vehicle sector.

Incoming president Sato, 53, was previously the company's chief branding officer, and president of its luxury Lexus brand.