Investing.com -- Something is stirring inside the house of Toyota . Not the one that builds Camrys and Corollas, but the labyrinthine structure that binds Toyota Motor (NYSE: TM ) and its constellation of affiliates, Denso, Aisin, Toyota Industries (OTC: TYIDF ), into one of the world’s most powerful and enigmatic corporate ecosystems.

This month’s revelation that Toyota Industries may be taken private has pulled back the curtain on an often-overlooked truth: the Toyota group is not just a company, it is a dynasty.

At the center is the Toyoda family, descendants of a loom inventor, still tightly interwoven into the structure and psyche of the group.

Six of Toyota’s twelve presidents have been Toyodas. The current figurehead, Akio Toyoda, led the company through the 2009 recall crisis and orchestrated reforms that reshaped Toyota’s cost base, its dealer networks, and its alliances with peers like Suzuki. Even after stepping down as CEO last year, his influence appears undiminished.

Now, investors are asking whether the mooted privatization of Toyota Industries is a governance concern or a long-planned consolidation. To some, it looks like Akio Toyoda is moving the chess pieces closer to home.

The companies that make up the Toyota group, many spun out over decades, from auto parts makers to real estate arms, are linked by equity cross-holdings and tradition more than necessity.

That legacy is both an asset and a constraint. Bernstein analysts suggest that to realize Toyota’s ambition of becoming a “Mobility Company,” parts of the group may need to be trimmed or reshaped.

Three companies, Fine Sinter, Futaba Industrial, and Aichi Steel, stand out as possible candidates for divestment or restructuring, based on their heavy exposure to internal combustion engines and tight integration with Toyota’s old operating model.

The writing is not yet on the wall, but the chalk is in hand.

A more centralized holding structure may be coming, with Akio Toyoda’s guiding hand behind the scenes.

Toyota’s transformation, it seems, is not just about electrification or software. It’s about redefining who gets to be in the house, and who doesn’t.