Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Managing Innovation
Managing Innovation
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Table of Contents
1 Introduction…………………………………………………………3
2 History……………………………………………………………….3
4 Conclusion…………………………………………………………...5
5 References…………………………………………………………...6
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1. Introduction
The year 2008 witnessed the long-cherished dream-fulfillment of one of the more reliable
car manufacturers around - Toyota, as it became the coveted ‘numero uno’ car
manufacturer in the world. On their way to the zenith, they left behind the ailing legend,
General Motors Corporation, an icon in itself and the unquestioned leader for more than
seventy years, by approximately 6,00,000 units (Korzeniewski, 2009). The long journey
beginning in 1937 with the establishment of Toyota Motor Corporation till the production
of the 2 millionth Prius hybrid (Toyota, 2011), is a pure reflection of the Japanese
2. History
Toyota has its humble beginning in 1937 in the hands of founder Sakichi Toyoda, who
sold the patent rights of his automatic loom to a British concern to form Toyota Motor
Company. Already in 1935 it had created A1 prototype passenger car and G1 truck,
followed by Model AA Sedan in ’36, further followed by the first export of a Toyota car
(G1 truck) and production of GB truck(Toyota, 2011). Kiichiro, Sakichi’s son had been
bestowed with the car operations and Toyota’s early success came with building trucks
and buses. In 1953 Toyopet, the first genuinely popular Toyota car was produced. In
addition to it, Land Cruiser (civilian truck) was being produced. In 1955, Toyota
announced its first luxury car, the Toyopet Crown followed by Corona. 1957 saw the first
export of a Toyota car (Crown) to the US, followed by the first Americanized Toyota
(Corona) in 1964. The company was slowly gaining both in sales and confidence and
from being an obscure car manufacturer; it had went on challenge Ford for the no. 2
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position. Then came Corolla, Camry and then in ’89 came the first Lexus with Scion in
’99 and then the hybrids followed by its rise to the no. 1 car manufacturer spot. The
company keeps on moving from strength to strength in its perpetual search for perfection
(Toyoland, 2011).
In a memo named ‘Toyota Global vision 2020’ the company described how it looked at
manufacturing and nature. It goes on to say how “tomorrow’s frontiers” would open up
by meshing the energy of the people and technology, while it goes in “pursuit of higher
ideas” (Toyota Global Vision 2020-Company Outline, 2008). That is the true essence of
Toyota. True, it had had its feathers ruffled by the setback caused by more than 8 million
car recalls, which had surely damaged Toyota’s credibility, but still the experts said that
unscathed(Makower, 2010). Speaking in congruency with their global vision, Bob Carter,
Toyota Group Vice-President for US Sales, had said that they wanted their hybrids to be
the best-selling cars in the US by 2020 (Ohnsman, 2011), as they would be bringing in
addition to their hybrid lineup, as well as hybrid version of all of their popular models
(Lyon, 2010). Instead of being taken aback by an unanticipated disaster, Toyota evidently,
is prowling for the market harder than ever. It has planned to produce one million hybrids
in 2011 (Niedermeyer,2010), while at the same time working slowly but gradually
towards changing its positioning into more that of a ‘fun and cool’ car brand, which
would be appealing to both parents and children, with its new Highlander 2011(Toyota
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Motor, 2011). As its strategy to enter the new growth markets, especially the BRIC
(Brazil, Russia, India, China) nations, Toyota is designing new cars meant to meet their
distinctive requirements. A new model called ‘Etios’, planned for first launch in India and
then the other BRIC nations, caused sensation with heavy pre-orders in the Indian
market (Schmitt, 2010). So, Toyota has its eyes set in the proper direction, as these new,
upcoming and growing markets would be the future profit centers. As with every great
company, Toyota’s vision for the future is strikingly simple, environment-friendly and yet
intensely profound.
4. Conclusion
Toyota, the benign world leader in car manufacturing, dreams of a greener future, aiming
2008) and is working its way bravely towards the goal. Its rise from the dust to become
the most admired brand is exemplary, phenomenal and worth the highest praise.
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References:
Korzeniewski, Jeremy (2009, January 21), “No Dispute: Toyota displaces GM as world's
Lyon, Peter (2010, February), “Toyota's Five Year Future Car Plan”, Motor Trend ,
retrieved from
http://www.motortrend.com/future/future_vehicles/112_1002_toyota_future_car_pla
Makower, Joel (2010, February 16), “Toyota and the Future of Green Marketing”
Niedermeyer, Edward (2010, January 18), “Toyota plans to produce 1 Million Hybrids in
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2010/01/toyota-plans-to-produce-1-million-hybrids-in-
Ohnsman, Alan (2011, January 4), “Toyota Aims for Prius Hybrid to become Top Seller
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-04/toyota-aims-for-prius-hybrid-to-
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Schmitt, Bertel (2010, December 15), “Review and Talk with the Head Engineer: Toyota
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2010/12/review-and-talk-with-the-head-engineer-
http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/about_toyota/in_the_world/pdf2008/02toyota_global.pdf
on January 8, 2011.
Toyota Motor Sales USA (2011), “Toyota Announces Marketing Campaign for New 2011
http://pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/toyota/toyota-announces-marketing-campaign-
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