Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda is banking on an overhauled r&d strategy to kick the company his grandfather founded into growth mode after four years of crises. He stated “If you compare it to soccer, it’s like changing the field formation. As the head coach, I have changed us from a defensive formation to an offensive one.”

The strategy will help boost Toyota’s global sales beyond 10 million units a year. In 2007, Volkswagen Group CEO Martin Winterkorn set a similar goal for the group — 10 million sales by 2018.