About Toyota
The Toyota Motor Corporation is a Japanese company and the world's largest automaker as of 2008, employing over 316,000 people. As of the same year, the company featured a total of 522 subsidiaries. The company has a long history that stretches back to the early 20th century. Much of its success rests on the philosophy of the manufacturing process and importance it places on its employees, giving its staff a smaller turnover than the American Big Three automakers. The company has used its success to move into a variety of other industries, including aerospace and robotics.
Identification
The name of the car company comes from the founder, Kiichiro Toyoda. However, based on the number of brush strokes needed to write the company name, it was changed to "Toyota" and trademarked in 1937. At the same time, a contest was announced to design the logo. 27,000 entries ultimately determined a winner that became to company logo. The name translates in both Japanese and Chinese to "fertile rice paddies."
Following Wold War II, the company's cars were sold under the name "Toyopet." This was altered in the United States to the proper "Toyota" name due to connotations that made them sound childish.
History
The company of Toyota began as a division of the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works Company in 1933. The company offered two vehicles: the A1 passenger car and the G1 truck. Although the company struggled through the war years, it began to garner much success in the Asian market in the 1950s. Following the 1973 oil crisis, the U.S. market began to search for more cost-effective vehicles with better fuel economy. At the time, small American vehicles sold poorly, so the companies failed to produce or advertise many of their models. Toyota leveraged this factor and focused on the U.S. market through its safety features.
In 1980, the company won the first Japanese Quality Control Award, which helped promote its vehicles in the American market. In 1989, the company launched a luxury line called Lexus. This helped it gain an even greater market share throughout the American and foreign car markets. By 2007, the company focused on overtaking the Big Three automakers and succeeded within a year. This was primarily a result of the success of the Toyota Tundra full-size truck and Toyota Camry mid-size car.
Significance
The basic philosophy of the company has developed over the years and is represented in the book, "The Toyota Way." The first key component to the company philosophy is to focus on the concept of "lean manufacturing." This devotes resources only to the goal of end value for the customer. "Just-in-time production" is also a major focus, providing the company the strategy of keeping inventory as small as possible and preventing a backlog of product in changing market conditions. The company also focuses on long-term management practices rather than the immediate bottom line, good systems for solving problems and developing its people in-house with a focus on driving learning in the overall organization.
Features
Toyota is one of the largest multinational corporations in the world. As of 2008, it was the largest automaker globally. In 2006, it reported an $11 billion profit.
The company is headquartered in Aichi, Japan and features a number of subsidiaries including Toyota Financial Services and the Scion and Lexus brand of vehicles. During the late 1990s and early part of the 21st century, Toyota purchased a majority stake in the Daihatsu car company and small shares of Isuzu and Subaru.
Toyota was the first company to introduce a mass-marketed hybrid gas-electric car in 1997. By 2007, the company had sold over one million units.
Considerations
Toyota leveraged its success in the early part of the 21st century. It moved into the aircraft industry by investing $67.2 million in the Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation. The aircraft is planned for release in 2013.
The company moved into the charity and philanthropy market. It started the Toyota Family Literacy Program, helping low-income people get education. It also launched 40 annual scholarships for the United Negro College Fund.
Toyota has also moved into the multitask robotics market. Its focus is to develop robots that will work with elderly people to issue care.
In addition, the company has moved into the biotechnology industry with five different partnerships: Indonesia's P.T. Toyota Bio, the Australian Afforestation Limited, China's Sichuan Toyota Nitan Development Company, and Japan's Toyota Floritech Company and Toyota Roof Garden Corporation.
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