Toyota Motor Corp said on Thursday that Akio Toyoda will step down as president and chief executive to become chairman from April 1, and hand over the helm of Japan’s biggest automaker to its top branding officer, Koji Sato.

Sato will become the new CEO while the current chairman, Takeshi Uchiyamada, will drop his chairman title but remain on the board, Toyota said.

The issue of who would take over from Toyoda, the 66-year-old grandson of the company’s founder, had increasingly been a focus for investors.

The issue of who would take over the top spot at Toyota – Japan’s biggest company and one of the world’s most influential manufacturers – has been an increasing focus for investors. But the timing of the announcement was a surprise.

Under the 66-year-old Toyoda, who led the company for more than a decade, the automaker has appeared reluctant to embrace electric vehicles, arguing the hybrid technology it pioneered with its once market-leading Prius was a better fit for many drivers.

It also touted hydrogen-powered cars as the future, raising fears it would be left behind by the rise of electric vehicles, as the flashier and more nimble Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) eclipsed it in both innovation and share price.

That insistence on hybrids and hydrogen also prompted criticism from investors and environmental activists who once widely praised Toyota’s technology and emissions record.

“No doubt Mr. Toyoda has been a competent CEO, but the whole auto sector needs to make disruptive change and Toyota has been lagging in this in our view, so this could be chance for a fresh start,” said Anders Schelde, chief investment officer of Danish pension fund AkademikerPension, which has repeatedly pressed Toyota to accelerate its shift to electric vehicles.

“We are hopeful this could help Toyota to set a new direction, but it remains to be seen.”

The succession announcement was broadcast on a webcast through the automaker’s Toyota Times channel in what looked more like a stilted talk show with a host rather than a formal corporate announcement.

“The timing of this was a surprise,” said Seiji Sugiura, an analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Institute, who noted there may have been a “sense of stagnation” inside the company given recent pressure on the share price.

“Probably, the day-to-day management will not change. Having Akio Toyoda step away from being CEO may increase his symbolism within the company and it may be hard for the young, new president to really show his hand.”

There was also little mention of concrete corporate strategy or investment priorities to come. Toyoda said Sato’s mission would be to transform Toyota into a “mobility company,” without specifying what that would entail.

“The CEO needs youth, energy, strength,” Toyoda said, saying that he himself was now a “relic” of an older generation. In Sato, too, he said, he had chosen a fellow car aficionado.