Interview: Didier Leroy, President and Chief Executive, Toyota Motor Europe

One of only two non-Japanese Senior Managing Officers at Toyota, Didier Leroy began his career in automotive manufacturing in Renault’s highly successful manufacturing dynasty under Michel Gornet, as the youngest deputy plant director of the Renault Group. Now President of Toyota Motor Manufacturing France and President and Chief Executive of the company’s European operations, Leroy has always approached the automotive industry with a sharp focus on cost, both in terms of the cost of making cars and the environmental costs of vehicle manufacturing.

In the days before the 2014 Geneva Motor Show, he gave Automotive World an exclusive interview, outlining Toyota’s strategies on EVs, hybrids and fuel cell vehicles, production capacity, and environmentally-responsible manufacturing in Europe.