Thank you to our event sponsors: Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers; American International Automobile Dealers Association; Association of Global Automakers; Central Atlantic Toyota; Consumer Technology Association; Daimler North America Corp.; DENSO International America; Embassy of Japan; Gulf States Toyota; Hamilton Place Strategies; Hogan Lovells LLP; Invariant; King & Spalding; Lexus; Mayer Brown LLP; McLarty Associates; Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP; National Automobile Dealers Association; National Association of Manufacturers; Southeast Toyota Distributors LLP; TOYOTA; Van Ness Feldman LLP; WilmerHale
Following the announcement of his company's new investments in American manufacturing, Akio Toyoda, President and Member of the Board of Directors, Toyota Motor Corporation, addressed members and guests at a breakfast Signature Event. During his opening remarks, Toyoda highlighted the automobile manufacturer's transition from a car company to a mobility company. "I believe automotive industry is undergoing the same level of disruption as when we moved from horses to cars," he said, noting Toyota's investments in researching artificial intelligence, autonomy, and robotics. During his conversation with David Rubenstein, which was simultaneously translated from Japanese to English, Toyoda discussed the company's U.S. manufacturing and global production. "Out of those automobiles sold here in the United States about 50 percent are made in the United States. However... what we are really concerned [with] is [that the car is] made by Toyota," he said, adding that Toyota's US manufacturing will "never go away."