Brands
Toyota names CFO Kenta Kon president and CEO in leadership shake-up
TOKYO: Toyota Motor has announced a top leadership change, with chief executive Koji Sato stepping down and chief financial officer Kenta Kon set to take over as president and CEO from 1 April, marking the group’s second chief executive transition in three years.
Sato will move into the newly created roles of vice chairman and chief industry officer, where Toyota said he will focus on broader industry engagement and strategic positioning, while Kon takes charge of day-to-day management and operations.
Speaking after the announcement, Kon described the reshuffle as Sato becoming “captain of the national team” while he assumes the role of “club captain”. Sato said the shift would allow him to concentrate on his wider responsibilities as chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association and vice chair of Keidanren, Japan’s powerful business lobby.
Executive vice president Yoichi Miyazaki will succeed Kon as CFO. Further board changes are planned for June 2026, when Kon will join as a director and Sato will step down from the board.
Alongside the leadership overhaul, Toyota raised its full-year operating profit forecast by 11.8 per cent, citing a weaker yen and cost reductions to offset pressure from US tariffs.
For the December quarter, sales revenue climbed 8.6 per cent year on year to 13.46 trillion yen ($85.8 billion), beating analyst expectations. Operating income slipped 2 per cent to 1.19 trillion yen but remained above market forecasts.
Shares rose about 1.5 per cent following the announcement. Toyota said electrified vehicles, including hybrids and electric vehicles, accounted for nearly half of its retail sales in the first three quarters of the fiscal year, driven by strong hybrid demand in North America and China, as the company pushes deeper into a more diversified mobility strategy.
Brands
Faber-Castell India appoints Sunaina Haldar as director – marketing
With stints at Tata, SleepyCat and ADF Foods under her belt, Haldar is primed to redraw Faber-Castell’s brand story
MUMBAI: Faber-Castell India has poached Sunaina Haldar from ADF Foods, appointing her director – marketing as the German stationery brand looks to muscle up in a category that is rapidly reinventing itself around creativity and self-expression.
Haldar hit the ground running. “My first couple of weeks have been incredibly energising, understanding consumers, visiting markets, engaging with retailers and immersing myself into the world of Faber-Castell Group,” she said.
She arrives with considerable firepower. At ADF Foods, Haldar ran marketing across India and international markets for a portfolio spanning Ashoka, Aeroplane, Camel and ADF Soul. Before that, she was vice-president – marketing at direct-to-consumer mattress brand SleepyCat, where she helmed brand, content and performance marketing. Her résumé also includes a stint leading marketing, new product development and CRM for Tata SmartFoodz at Tata Consumer Products, no small proving ground.
Between corporate roles, Haldar also operated as a fractional CMO for early-stage startups, building marketing strategy and operational structures from scratch, a signal that she knows how to move fast with limited resources.
With 18 years straddling FMCG, D2C and the startup world, Haldar now takes the reins at a brand that has long owned the classroom but is clearly hungry for the living room. In a stationery market where the pencil has become a lifestyle statement, Faber-Castell has picked someone who knows exactly how to sell that story.
