New Toyota team looks uphill

Toyota’s revised management team faces an uphill battle similar to its U.S. counterparts, Akio Toyoda, the Japanese automaker’s new president, said.

While not facing bankruptcy, which rocked rivals General Motors Co. and Chrysler this year, we must start again from the ground up, Toyota said in his first interview in Tokyo after taking over the company, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

Since Toyota took over what last year became the world’s largest automaker, 40 percent of Toyota’s management team has either retired or found new jobs, while four of the top five members of Toyota’s highest executive team are new.

After losing money last year for the first time in decades, Toyota reported a loss of $819 million for its first fiscal quarter of 2009.

Key to its future is the U.S. market, where recession-battered consumers are increasing their savings and slowing down their spending.

But “without North America, we are not likely to come back to global proficiency, said Yoshimi Inaba, head of the Toyota’s North American operations.