Eiji Toyoda

Toyota: TPS scale-up, Lexus launch

Eiji Toyoda served as President (1967–1982) and later Chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation. He was the principal executive force behind institutionalising the Toyota Production System—the lean-manufacturing model that became a global benchmark—and drove the 1989 launch of Lexus as Toyota's answer to European luxury marques. His tenure transformed Toyota from a domestic manufacturer into the world's largest automaker by volume.