Man who turned Toyota into global giant dies at 100

Eiji Toyoda, who spearheaded Toyota Motor's expansion in the United States as the carmaker's longest-serving president, has died at the age of 100.

He died of heart failure early yesterday morning, the company said.

During his 57-year career, the younger cousin of Toyota's founder Kiichiro Toyoda helped reshape a maker of Chevrolet knock-offs into a carmaker whose manufacturing efficiency became the envy of General Motors and Ford Motor.

By the time he stepped down in 1994, Toyota was assembling Corollas in the US, had started the Lexus luxury brand and had initiated a project that would develop the world's most successful hybrid vehicle, the Prius.

During the 69 years Toyoda worked at the company, it rose from assembling cars from parts made by GM to being 16 times more valuable than the Detroit-based carmaker.

Toyoda became president of Toyota in 1967 and served for 15 years - longer than anyone before or since. In 1982, Toyota and Toyota Motor Sales merged and Toyoda became chairman of the combined company, serving until 1992.