Former CEO and Son of Founder Toyota Passed Away

The Japanese company announced that former Toyota CEO Shoichiro Toyoda passed away on Tuesday at 97. The automaker’s honorary chairman died of heart failure just days before his birthday.

Shoichiro Toyoda was born in 1925. In 1952 he started working for the car company founded by his father, Kiichiro. In 1982 he became president of the company, which had just merged its commercial activities and production. They were kept separate in the years before.

He remained the chief executive for ten years, after which he served as chairman of the company until 1999. During that period, Toyota grew into one of the largest car companies in the world. For example, the company introduced the luxury brand Lexus and introduced the first hybrid vehicle, the Toyota Prius.

Toyoda is also the father of current Toyota CEO Akio. He has been in office since 2009 and recently announced that he would step down in a few months. Like his father, he will then become chairman earlier.