is vice chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation

Toyota Motor Corporation

, , , commonly known simply as Toyota and abbreviated as TMC, is a multinational automaker headquartered in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. In 2010, Toyota Motor Corporation employed 317,734 people worldwide, and was the world's largest automobile manufacturer by production.The company was founded by...

. He was president and CEO of the company before Akio Toyoda

Akio Toyoda

is the president and CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation.He received his MBA from Babson College.- Career :Akio Toyoda joined Toyota in 1984. In 2000 he joined Toyota's board of directors. In 2005 he was promoted to executive vice president....

 assumed those positions on June 23, 2009.

Watanabe, who earned a degree in economics

Economics

Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...

 from Tokyo's Keio University

Keio University

,abbreviated as Keio or Keidai , is a Japanese university located in Minato, Tokyo. It is known as the oldest institute of higher education in Japan. Founder Fukuzawa Yukichi originally established it as a school for Western studies in 1858 in Edo . It has eleven campuses in Tokyo and Kanagawa...

, joined Toyota upon graduating from that university in 1964.
He has gained experience in a broad range of activities at Toyota, primarily in corporate planning and administrative affairs. Watanabe became the general manager of the secretarial division in 1988 and moved to the Corporate Planning division as general manager in 1989.

In his work as general manager of the Corporate Planning division, Watanabe participated in charting and articulating a common, long-term vision for Toyota operations around the world.