Hiroshi Okuda, a former chair of Toyota and a key figure in promoting the Prius hybrid, dies at 93, Toyota says. Multiple outlets describe him as a pioneer who helped bring the Prius to mass production and supported the company’s push into hybrid technology.
Okuda becomes Toyota’s leader in 1995, taking over when the automaker is described as struggling, and is noted as the first person to head the company from outside the founding family in decades. Outlets credit him with backing products beyond the Prius, including the RAV4. Reporting also frames his tenure as occurring before electric vehicles are widely seen as a major market, with the Prius presented as an early, large-scale petrol-and-electric hybrid.
Across sources, the main emphasis is on his role in hybrid innovation and Toyota’s leadership change in the mid-1990s, while the details—such as how the company’s condition at the time is characterized—vary slightly by outlet.
