Toyota shareholders have approved the appointment of Akio Toyoda, the company founder's grandson, as its new president.

The 3,300 shareholders hope that reaching back to the automaker's family roots will help steer the manufacturer out of its worst ever crisis.

The shareholders filled a hall at Toyota headquarters on Tuesday to select 29 new directors, including Toyoda.

Toyoda faces the daunting task of reviving the world's largest car-manufacturer, which lost $4.6bn during the fiscal year ending in March, its worst loss since it was founded in 1937.

The company expects an even larger loss this year.

Toyoda formally became president at a directors' meeting later in the day, the company said in a statement.

Akio Toyoda is the grandson of Kiichiro Toyoda , who founded the company, and the son of Shoichiro Toyoda, a former president.

The only bright spot in Toyota's performance lately has been the popularity of the third-generation Prius hybrid, partly due to government incentives on green vehicles.

However, Toyoda clearly faces an enormous challenge to turn around the company that his grandfather founded more than 60 years ago.

It forecasts a net loss of $5.8bn for the year up to March 2010.

In a news conference in January when his appointment was first announced, Toyoda had promised a back-to-basics approach at Toyota, valuing rank-and-file and consumer needs.