The biggest rally in three years for Toyota has shown how a well-timed campaign to promote the carmaker’s EV strategy can pay off, but a dip in support for Chairman Akio Toyoda at a shareholders meeting serves as a reminder of the perils of drawing investor ire.
A 13% rise in Toyota’s stock added ¥4.4 trillion ($31.4 billion) in market value this week, after the company shared details of how it plans to catch up in the global shift to electric vehicles, buoyed by a global rally in the shares of Tesla and other EV manufacturers.
The rosy results were undermined, however, by Toyoda’s reappointment to the board with 85% of voted shares — a decline from 96% last year and the lowest on record for him since 2013, according to Toyota.