At the age of 43, he becomes the youngest person to take a seat on the board since Toyota's sales and manufacturing operations merged in 1982. Japan's largest automaker acknowledged that family ties had played a part in the promotion but said this would not be a factor in further advancement.

"Akio Toyoda was promoted to the position mainly in recognition of his success with Gazoo.com, our Internet and E-commerce division but deference to the Toyoda family did play a small part," said company spokeswoman Keiko Sato. "This, however, does not mean that Toyoda will naturally be promoted to a more senior executive position in the future. That will depend on his ability and effort," she said.

In his new position, Akio Toyoda will continue to oversee Gazoo.com as well as domestic sales, America's operations and operations management consulting.

-- (Reuters)