FILE - Toyota's Shoichiro Toyoda makes remarks at the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2007, during a forum on the Toyota Motor Corp. and the U.S., past and future. Toyoda, who as a son of the company's founder oversaw Toyota's expansion into international markets has died. He was 97. – Shoichiro Toyoda, who as a son of the company’s founder oversaw Toyota’s expansion into international markets has died. He was 97.
After becoming Toyota's president in 1982, Shoichiro Toyoda helped direct Toyota’s transformation into a global automaker, especially in the vital U.S. market, where its brand became synonymous with quality, durability, cost performance and engineering finesse. With his brother Tatsuro, Shoichiro Toyoda helped pave the way for Toyota to set up manufacturing facilities in North America. The company formed a joint venture with General Motors in 1983. It was called New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., or NUMMI, and its first vehicle rolled out in 1984 in Freemont, California.
He was graduated from the prestigious Nagoya University in 1947 with a degree in engineering and joined Toyota in 1952.