Larisa Manescu, larisa.manescu@sierraclub.org
Patrick Davis, pdavis@citizen.org
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Sierra Club and Public Citizen called on Toyota Motor Company’s Board Chair Akio Toyoda to step down ahead of the company’s annual general meeting.
“Akio Toyoda has shown over and over that he is not fit to lead the world’s largest automaker,” said Katherine Garcia, director of the Sierra Club’s Clean Transportation for All campaign. “Under his helm, Toyota has invested in funding climate deniers and anti-climate advocacy, even urging its employees to lobby against life-saving clean vehicle standards. Meanwhile, it is missing out on the growing market for electric vehicles. Toyota needs leadership that will move the company forward with the industry towards electric vehicles, not in reverse.”
“The time has come for Board Chair Toyoda to hand over the keys to new leadership,” said Adam Zuckerman, senior clean vehicles campaigner with Public Citizen’s Climate Program, which recently released an investor brief that analyzes Toyota’s governance crisis and what it means for investor risk. “Akio Toyoda has overseen a growing series of scandals that threaten the reputation of the company his grandfather founded. It is time for him to get out of the driver’s seat before he drives Toyota off the road.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.