Organisers of Toyota's bucho no kai – a semi-formal fraternity of general managers, the highest non-executive rank in the company – devised the plan in response to a projected 15 per cent drop in sales volume in the current business year. Although technically voluntary, members said most of the group was likely to comply.
The show of solidarity in the face of hard times – the same managers had already seen their 2008 year-end bonuses cut by 10 per cent – comes as Toyota prepares to name a scion of the founding Toyoda family as its next chief executive.
Analysts said the selection of Akio Toyoda, 52, seemed designed in part to evoke traditional Toyota values such as sacrifice and kaizen – constant improvement – during a period of painful change.