Toyota Creates Company-Wide Robotics Unit Under Production Chief Takefumi Shiga

In its notice of organisational changes, Toyota said the unit will pull together robotics expertise, staff and functions that are now spread across the company. It described robotics as "a key pillar of its future business" and said the new organisation is meant to speed up the practical use, commercialisation and front-line deployment of robots. Toyota said it wants robots to work alongside people as partners and expand what they can do, not to take their jobs.

The change gives one executive responsibility for a technology Toyota has so far pursued through several separate groups. Shiga will stay on as chief officer of the Production Engineering Group, so the robotics unit will report to the executive who runs Toyota's manufacturing engineering. Bloomberg described the step as Toyota joining major global rivals in building out robotics.

Toyota has already indicated how large its factory automation plans could be. In September, AI News, citing Reuters, reported that Toyota had told investors that expanding automation across its own plants, group companies and major suppliers could require about 400,000 robots and roughly 1 trillion yen ($6.4bn) a year in spending from 2028. Toyota has not said whether it will spend at that level, or for how long.

Much of the group's robotics research happens at Toyota Research Institute, which works with Boston Dynamics on AI control software for the Atlas humanoid. In 2025, the two showed Atlas walking, lifting, sorting and packing using a single large behaviour model, with new skills taught through human demonstrations. Hyundai, which owns Boston Dynamics, plans to put Atlas to work at its Metaplant America in Georgia from 2028, the same AI News report said.

The same reorganisation closes the Frontier Research Center, Toyota's advanced research unit, which has worked on robots to address labour shortages and skill transfer. Its functions move to the Advanced R&D and Engineering Company and the Software Development Center. Toyota is also closing its Carbon Neutral Engineering Development Center and moving that work into the Powertrain Company, with a focus on hybrid systems.

Other changes include a new Toyota Philosophy and Education Group, focused on developing people, with Chairman Akio Toyoda as chief officer. A new Kanri Group, led by Yoshinori Ohno, combines the General Administration & Human Resources Group and the Accounting Group, both of which are being abolished.

Toyota is also splitting its India-Middle East-East Asia & Oceania Region into two. Masakazu Yoshimura will be chief executive of the new India & Middle East Region and Takanori Azuma of the East Asia & Oceania Region. Mark Templin will lead North America, Sukenaga Ota China and Masando Hashimoto the Asia Region.

The changes, including Toyota Robotics, take effect on January 1, 2027. Toyota has not yet said what the unit's first deployments will be or what budget it will have.