Toyota Motor's (TM) Tensions Mount on Cutting of Board

In what could erupt into a public battle, at least by Japanese standards, reports are Toyota Motor (NYSE:TM) President Akio Toyoda, as part of his strategy for the company going forward, will significantly reduce the size of the board of the company.

Also on Wednesday, when the announcement is supposed to be made, Toyoda will also give his long-term strategic plan for the world's largest automaker.

More broadly, the blueprint for the decade will provide one of the first public glimpses of President Akio Toyoda's management style and goals.

The plan, tentatively dubbed 2020 Global Vision, marks a new chapter for the world's largest auto maker after an unprofitable period helped propel the family scion into his current role in 2009, and follows the fallout from massive recalls that consumed Toyoda's first two years as president.

Toyota has declined to provide any details about the new strategy prior to its formal announcement. But people familiar with the plan say that one hallmark is a proposal to roughly halve the number of board members from the current 27. Toyoda's support base within the company views the move to slim the board as an attempt to speed decision making, but his detractors view the plan as an effort to consolidate power.

Toyota closed Monday at $89.02, dropping $1.97, or 2.17 percent.




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