TOYOTA

Toyota Motor Corporation. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on

August 28, 1937. Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing
about 10 million vehicles per year.
The company was originally founded as a spinoff of Toyota Industries, a machine maker started
by Sakichi Toyoda, Kiichiro's father. Both companies are now part of the Toyota Group, one of
the largest conglomerates in the world. While still a department of Toyota Industries, the
company developed its first product, the Type A engine in 1934 and its first passenger car in
1936, the Toyota AA.
After World War II, Toyota benefited from Japan's alliance with the United States to learn from
American automakers and other companies, which would give rise to The Toyota Way (a
management philosophy) and the Toyota Production System (a lean manufacturing practice) that
would transform the small company into a leader in the industry and would be the subject of
many academic studies.
In the 1960s, Toyota took advantage of a rapidly growing Japanese economy to sell cars to a
growing middle-class, leading to the development of the Toyota Corolla, which would go on to
become the world's all-time best-selling automobile. The booming economy also funded an
international expansion that would allow Toyota to grow into one of the largest automakers in the
world, the largest company in Japan and the ninth-largest company in the world by revenue, as
of December 2020. Toyota was the world's first automobile manufacturer to produce more than
10 million vehicles per year, a record set in 2012, when it also reported the production of its 200
millionth vehicle.
Toyota was praised for being a leader in the development and sales of more fuel-efficient hybrid
electric vehicles, starting with the introduction of the Toyota Prius in 1997. The company now
sells more than 40 hybrid vehicle models around the world. However, more recently, the
company has also been accused of greenwashing for its skepticism of all-electric vehicles and its
focus on the development of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, like the Toyota Mirai, a technology that
is costlier and has fallen far behind electric batteries. Still, in late 2022, the company signed an
£11.3m government deal with the UK's Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
to help it develop its Hilux FC model, a new range of hydrogen-powered pickup trucks.
History
1920–1930

The mass-produced Toyoda automated loom, displayed at Toyota Museum in Aichi-gun, Japan

In 1924, Sakichi Toyoda invented the Toyoda Model G Automatic Loom. The principle of jidoka,
which means the machine stops itself when a problem occurs, became later a part of the Toyota
Production System. Looms were built on a small production line. In 1929, the patent for the
automatic loom was sold to the British company Platt Brothers,[4] generating the starting capital
for automobile development.
Under the direction of the founder's son, Kiichiro Toyoda,[6][7] Toyoda Automatic Loom
Works established an Automobile Division on September 1, 1933, and formally declared its
intention to begin manufacturing automobiles on January 29, 1934. A prototype Toyota Type A
engine was completed on September 25, 1934, with the company's first prototype sedan, the A1,
completed the following May. As Kiichiro had limited experience with automobile production, he
initially focused on truck production; the company's first truck, the G1, was completed on August
25, 1935, and debuted on November 21 in Tokyo, becoming the company's first production
model. Modeled on a period Ford truck, the G1 sold for ¥2,900, ¥200 cheaper than the Ford
truck. A total of 379 G1 trucks were ultimately produced.
In April 1936, Toyoda's first passenger car, the Model AA, was completed. The sales price was
¥3,350, ¥400 cheaper than Ford or GM cars. The company's plant at Kariya was completed in
May. In July, the company filled its first export order, with four G1 trucks exported to northeastern
China. On September 19, 1936, the Japanese imperial government officially designated Toyota
Automatic Loom Works as an automotive manufacturer.

1940
Japan was heavily damaged in World War II and Toyota's plants, which were used for the war
effort, were not spared. On August 14, 1945, one day before the surrender of Japan, Toyota's
Koromo Plant was bombed by the Allied forces. After the surrender, the U.S.-led occupying
forces banned passenger car production in Japan. However, automakers like Toyota were
allowed to begin building trucks for civilian use, in an effort to rebuild the nation's
infrastructure.[15] The U.S. military also contracted with Toyota to repair its vehicles. [16]
By 1947, there was an emerging global Cold War between the Soviet Union and the U.S., who
had been allies in World War II. U.S. priorities shifted (the "Reverse Course") from punishing and
reforming Japan to ensuring internal political stability, rebuilding the economy, and, to an extent,
remilitarizing Japan. Under these new policies, in 1949, Japanese automakers were allowed to
resume passenger car production, but at the same time, a new economic stabilization program to
control inflation plunged the automotive industry into a serious shortage of funds, while many
truck owners defaulted on their loans. Ultimately, the Bank of Japan, the central bank of the
country, bailed out the company, with demands that the company institute reforms.[18]

1950
As the 1950s began, Toyota emerged from its financial crisis a smaller company, closing
factories and laying off workers. At about the same time, the Korean War broke out, and being
located so close to the battlefront, the U.S. Army placed an order for 1,000 trucks from Toyota.
The order helped to rapidly improve the struggling company's business performance. In 1950,
company executives, including Kiichiro's cousin Eiji Toyoda, took a trip to the United States
where they trained at the Ford Motor Company and observed the operations of dozens of U.S.
1960–1970

Toyota 2000GT (1967–1969)

At the start of the 1960s, the Japanese economy was booming, a period that came to be known
as the Japanese economic miracle. As the economy grew, so did the income of everyday people,
who now could afford to purchase a vehicle. At the same time, the Japanese government heavily
invested in improving road infrastructure. To take advantage of the moment, Toyota and other
automakers started offering affordable economy cars like the Toyota Corolla, which would go on
to become the world's all-time best-selling automobile.
Toyota also found success in the United States in 1965 with the Toyota Corona compact car,
which was redesigned specifically for the American market with a more powerful engine. The
Corona helped increase U.S. sales of Toyota vehicles to more than 20,000 units in 1966 (a
threefold increase) and helped the company become the third-best-selling import brand in the
United States by 1967. Toyota's first manufacturing investment in the United States came in
1972 when the company struck a deal with Atlas Fabricators, to produce truck beds in Long
Beach, in an effort to avoid the 25% "chicken tax" on imported light trucks. By importing the truck
as an incomplete chassis cab (the truck without a bed), the vehicle only faced a 4% tariff. [33] Once
in the United States, Atlas would build the truck beds and attach them to the trucks. The
partnership was successful and two years later, Toyota purchased Atlas.
The energy crisis of the 1970s was a major turning point in the American auto industry. Before
the crisis, large and heavy vehicles with powerful but inefficient engines were common. But in the
years after, consumers started demanding high-quality and fuel-efficient small cars. Domestic
automakers, in the midst of their malaise era, struggled to build these cars profitably, but foreign
automakers like Toyota were well positioned. This, along with growing anti-Japanese sentiment,
prompted the U.S. Congress to consider import restrictions to protect the domestic auto industry.
The 1960s also saw the slight opening of the Japanese auto market to foreign companies. In an
effort to strengthen Japan's auto industry ahead of the market opening, Toyota purchased stakes
in other Japanese automakers. That included a stake in Hino Motors, a manufacturer of large
commercial trucks, buses and diesel engines, along with a 16.8 percent stake in Daihatsu, a
manufacturer of kei cars, the smallest highway-legal passenger vehicles sold in Japan.[35] That
would begin what would become a long-standing partnership between Toyota and the two
companies. As part of the partnership, Daihatsu would supply kei cars for Toyota to sell and to a
lesser extent Toyota would supply full-sized cars for Daihatsu to sell (a process known
as rebadging), allowing both companies to sell a full line-up of vehicles.

1980

By the 1980s, the Toyota Corolla was one of the most popular cars in the world and would go on to
become the world's all-time best-selling automobile.

After the successes of the 1970s, and the threats of import restrictions, Toyota started making
additional investments in the North American market in the 1980s. In 1981, Japan agreed
to voluntary export restraints, which limited the number of vehicles the nation would send to the
United States each year, leading Toyota to establish assembly plants in North America. The U.S.
government also closed the loophole that allowed Toyota to pay lower taxes by building truck
beds in America.

1990

The Toyota Supra (JZA80) is one of the most recognized Japanese sports cars.

Toyota Prius, first generation (NHW10 1997–2000)

In the 1990s, Toyota began to branch out from producing mostly compact cars by adding many
larger and more luxurious vehicles to its lineup, including a full-sized pickup, the T100 (and later
the Tundra), several lines of SUVs, a sport version of the Camry, known as the Camry Solara.
They would also launch newer iterations of their sports cars, namely the MR2, Celica,
and Supra during this era.

2000
In August 2000, exports began of the Prius. In 2001, Toyota acquired its long time partner, truck
and bus manufacturer Hino Motors. In 2002, Toyota entered Formula One competition and
established a manufacturing joint venture in France with French
automakers Citroën and Peugeot. A youth-oriented marque for North America, Scion, was
introduced in 2003. Toyota ranked eighth on Forbes 2000 list of the world's leading companies
for the year 2005. Also in 2005, Fujio Cho would shift to become chairman of Toyota and would
be replaced as president by Katsuaki Watanabe.

2010
In 2011, Toyota, along with large parts of the Japanese automotive industry, suffered from a
series of natural disasters. The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami led to a severe disruption
of the supplier base and a drop in production and exports. Severe flooding during the
2011 monsoon season in Thailand affected Japanese automakers that had chosen Thailand as a
production base. Toyota is estimated to have lost production of 150,000 units to the tsunami and
production of 240,000 units to the floods.

2020
By 2020, Toyota reclaimed its position as the largest automaker in the world,
surpassing Volkswagen.[72] It sold 9.528 million vehicles globally despite an 11.3% drop in sales
due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes subsidiaries Daihatsu and Hino Motors.
On April 2, 2020, BYD and Toyota announced a new joint venture between the two companies
called BYD Toyota EV Technology Co., Ltd., with the aim of "developing BEVs (Battery Electric
Vehicles) that appeal to customers."
Product line
Best-selling Toyota and Lexus
nameplates globally, FY2021[96]

Rank Sales
Model
in Toyota (thousands of units)

1 Toyota Corolla 1,312

2 Toyota RAV4 980

3 Toyota Yaris 743

4 Toyota Camry 685

5 Toyota Hilux 605

6 Toyota Highlander 466

7 Toyota Tacoma 268

8 Toyota C-HR 235

9 Toyota Levin 221

10 Lexus RX 199
SUVs and crossovers

Toyota C-HR

Toyota RAV4

Toyota SUV and crossover line-up grew quickly in the late 2010s to 2020s due to the market shift
to SUVs. Toyota crossovers range from the subcompact Yaris Cross and C-HR, compact Corolla
Cross and RAV4, to midsize Harrier/Venza and Kluger/Highlander. Other crossovers include the
Raize, Urban Cruiser.] Toyota SUVs range from the midsize Fortuner to full-size Land Cruiser.
Other SUVs include the Rush, Prado, FJ Cruiser, 4Runner, and Sequoia.

Pickup trucks

Toyota Hilux (global)

Toyota Tacoma (US/Canada)

Toyota first entered the pickup truck market in 1947 with the SB that was only sold in Japan and
limited Asian markets. It was followed in 1954 by the RK (renamed in 1959 as the Stout) and in
1968 by the compact Hilux. With continued refinement, the Hilux (simply known as the Pickup in
some markets) became famous for being extremely durable and reliable. Extended cab and crew
cab versions were eventually added, and Toyota continues to produce them today under various
names depending on the market in various cab lengths, with gasoline or diesel engines, and
2WD and 4WD versions.

In North America, the Hilux became a major model for the company, leading the company to
launch the Tacoma in 1995.[100] The Tacoma was based on the Hilux, but with a design intended
to better suit the needs of North American consumers who often use pickup trucks as personal
vehicles. The design was a success and the Tacoma became the best-selling compact pickup in
North America.

After the success of its compact Hilux pickups in North America, Toyota decided to enter the full-
size pickup market, which was traditionally dominated by domestic automakers. The company
introduced the T100 for the 1993 US model year. The T100 had a full-size 8-foot (2.4 m) long
bed, but suspension and engine characteristics were similar to that of a compact pickup. Sales
were disappointing and the T100 was criticized for having a small V6 engine (especially
compared to the V8 engines common in American full-size trucks), lacking an extended-cab
version, being too small, and too expensive (because of the 25% tariff on imported trucks) In
1995, Toyota added the more powerful V6 engine from the new Tacoma to the T100 and also
added an extended cab version. In 1999, Toyota replaced the T100 with the larger Tundra, which
would be built in the US with a V8 engine and styling that more closely matched other American
full-size trucks.