toyota

Toyota Motor Corporation (Japanese: トヨタ自動車株式会社, Toyota Jidōsha Kabushiki-gaisha^?), or simply called Toyota is a Japanese multinational corporation and the world's second largest automaker that manufactures automobiles, trucks, buses, and robots headquartered in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. It is speculated that it will become the world's largest automaker, overtaking General Motors, by producing and selling 9.8 million vehicles in 2008 along with increasing sales. [1] It's one of the Japanese "big three" challenging American automobile manufacturers that includes Nissan Motors and Honda Motor with high success.

The headquarters of Toyota is located in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. Toyota also provides financial services through its subsidiary, Toyota Financial Services, and participates in other lines of business. It manufactures vehicles sold in the United States under the brand names Toyota, Scion, and Lexus. Toyota also owns majority stakes in Daihatsu and Hino, and 8.7% of Fuji Heavy Industries, which manufactures Subaru vehicles.

As of 2005, Toyota combined with its half owned subsidiary Daihatsu Motor Company produced 8.54 million vehicles, about 500,000 fewer than the number produced by GM that year. In July of 2006, Toyota passed Ford in selling cars, although Ford regained its lead over Toyota in the following month and lost it again due to heavy gas prices. Toyota has a large market share in the United States, Europe and Africa and is the market leader in Australia. It has significant market shares in several fast-growing Southeast Asian countries^[1].

In the Fortune Global 500, it is the 7th largest company in the world outpacing Ford Motor Company in all listings in terms of revenue and growth and in the 2006 Forbes Global 2000 it is the 12th largest company in the world. It has been consistently gaining market share in the United States, while shrinking sales for Ford and General Motors in the United States.

Its slogan is "Moving forward," or "It's time to move forward." in the United States. This slogan is also used in various other countries in the world. In Europe their common slogan is Today. Tomorrow. Toyota. In some countries such as Australia, the slogan is "Oh what a feeling!" which was Toyota's famous slogan in the US during the 1980s.

History

Toyota Motor Corporation began in September 1933 when Toyoda Automatic Loom created a new division devoted to the production of automobiles under the direction of the founder's son, Kiichiro Toyoda. Soon thereafter, the division produced its first Type A Engine in 1934, which was used in the first Model A1 passenger car in May 1935 and the G1 truck in August 1935. Production of the Model AA passenger car started in 1936.

Although the Toyota Group is best known today for its cars, it is still in the textile business and still makes automatic looms (which are now fully computerized), and electric sewing machines which are available worldwide.

Toyota Motor Co. was established as an independent company in 1937. Although the founding family name is Toyoda (豊田), the company name was changed in order to signify the separation of the founders' work life from home life, to simplify the pronunciation, and to give the company a happy beginning. Toyota (トヨタ) is considered luckier than Toyoda (豊田) in Japan, where eight is regarded as a lucky number, and eight is the number of strokes it takes to write Toyota in Katakana. In Chinese, the company and its vehicles are still referred to by the equivalent characters (Traditional Chinese: 豐田; Simplified Chinese: 丰田), with Chinese reading.

During the Pacific War the company was dedicated to truck production for the Imperial Army. Because of severe shortages in Japan, military trucks were kept as simple as possible. For example, the trucks had only one headlight on the center of the hood. The war ended shortly before a scheduled Allied bombing run on the Toyota factories in Aichi.

Commercial passenger car production started in 1947 with the model SA. In 1950 a separate sales company Toyota Motor Sales Co. was established (which lasted until July 1982). In April 1956 the Toyopet dealer chain was established.

Worldwide presence

Toyota has factories all over the world, manufacturing or assembling vehicles for local markets, including the Corolla. Toyota has manufacturing or assembly plants in the United States, Japan, Australia, Canada, Indonesia, Poland, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, France, Brazil, and more recently Pakistan, India, Argentina, Czech Republic, Mexico, Malaysia, Thailand, China and Venezuela.

The first Toyota built outside of Japan was a Land Cruiser FJ-251, built in São Paulo, Brazil in May 1959.

Toyota invests a great amount of research into cleaner-burning vehicles such as the Toyota Prius, based on technology such as the Hybrid Synergy Drive, although the added costs of hybrid technology do not result in any cost savings for many years.^{citation needed]} In 2002, Toyota successfully road-tested a new version of the RAV4 which ran on a Hydrogen fuel cell. Scientific American called the company its Business Leader of the Year in 2003 for commercializing an affordable hybrid car.

In 2003, Toyota brought two of its popular cars from Japan (including the bB) to America, and created a new badge, called Scion, meaning a descendant or heir. These cars are targeted towards the young, and young-at-heart. They are meant to be tuned up or be used as simple road cars. Both models, the xA (known in Japan as the Toyota ist) and xB (known in Japan as the Toyota bB) are powered by a 1.5L DOHC I4 engine. A third model, the Scion tC, was introduced in 2004. They are all typically low priced and are affordable. Instead of importing an existing model from Japan as was done with the xA and xB, the tC was designed specifically for the North American market as a Toyota Celica replacement, using the four-cylinder engine and transmissions from the Toyota Camry, and the basic platform of the European Toyota Avensis. Toyota is also famous in industry for its manufacturing philosophy, called the Toyota Production System. This system is copied worldwide by many manufacturing companies.

In 2005, Toyota was the 4th largest auto company in the world in terms of sales with $135.82 billion—it trailed General Motors with $185.52 billion, Ford with $164.20 billion, and DaimlerChrylser with $157.13 billion. As of May 2006, Toyota was able to catch Daimler-Chrysler for 3rd place in total sales in the United States. In June 2006, Toyota surpassed Ford in terms of total vehicle sales in the U.S., although Ford regained its spot over Toyota in the following month and lost it again for long time since.

Brands

Lexus

Main article: Lexus

Lexus is Toyota's brand name for its luxury automobile division. Lexus vehicles are sold in North America, the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Latin America, Asia and Oceania; in the United States, Lexus is the highest-selling brand of luxury cars. Until 2005, Lexus vehicles were sold under the Toyota marque in Japan, at which point the Lexus marque was introduced.

Since its debut in 1989, Lexus has developed a reputation for the reliability of its vehicles and the quality of its customer service. In 2006, consumer ratings firm J.D. Power named Lexus the most reliable brand in the U.S. based on its Vehicle Dependability Survey, a measure of over 47,000 vehicle owners and the problems they experienced in the first three years of vehicle ownership. It was the twelfth consecutive year that Lexus achieved this top rating ^[2]. That same year, Consumer Reports also named Lexus the most reliable brand in its Annual Car Reliability Survey of over one million vehicles nationwide. ^[3]. Additionally, Lexus ranks highly on surveys of dealership service experience.

Scion

Main article: Scion (car)

Scion is a United States-only division of Toyota founded in 2003. It is also a brand of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. It currently has three models: the Scion xA also known as the Scion xA white and xB (both rebadged Japanese market cars, named ist and bB, respectively) and the tC (a new design based on the European-market Toyota Avensis). Scion's long-term goal is to appeal to Generation Y consumers, expected to dwarf the market size of Generation X by 2020. Scion grew from Toyota Project Genesis, a failed effort to bring younger buyers to the Toyota marque in the United States. Scion is Toyota's entry-level brand, slotting below Toyota in the lineup. Currently Scion sells its vehicles in the United States, and Guam and Puerto Rico.

Current Models

(Note: Models and definitions do vary between markets. For specifics, see individual models.)

Toyota Brand

• Aygo (citycar passenger)
• Yaris (subcompact passenger)
• Soluna/Vios (subcompact passenger, ASEAN Region]]
• Corolla/Altis (compact passenger)
• Camry (midsize passenger)
• Crown (large luxury sedan)
• Avensis (midsize passenger)
• Avalon (full-size passenger)
• RAV4 (small SUV)
• Highlander (crossover SUV)
• 4Runner (midsize SUV)
• Sequoia (full-size SUV)
• FJ Cruiser (compact 4x4)
• Land Cruiser (full-size 4x4)
• Hilux/Tacoma (midsize pickup)
• Tundra (full-size pickup, U.S.)
• Sienna (minivan, U.S.)
• Estima/Tarago/Previa (minivan)
• Solara (Camry based coupe)
• Prius (hatchback - hybrid flagship)

IMV Vehicle Lineup (mainly for ASEAN Region)

• Fortuner (midsize SUV)
• Hilux (midsize pickup)
• Innova (minivan)
• Avanza (mini MPV)
• Hiace (commercial van)

Lexus Brand

• IS (compact luxury sedan)
• ES (midsize sedan)
• GS (midsize luxury sedan)
• LS (large luxury sedan)
• RX (midsize crossover)
• LX (large SUV)

Scion Brand

• xA (compact hatchback)
• xB (subcompact hatchback)
• tC (compact coupe)

Past Models

Toyota Brand

• Celica (October 1970 - April 2006 in Japan, 1971-2005 for export).
• Starlet (1973-1999).
• Corona and Carina (succeeded by Premio, Allion, Avensis).
• Mark II (succeeded by Mark X), derivatives Chaser and Cresta are discontinued.
• Cressida (succeeded by Avalon).
• Echo (2000-2005) (now called Yaris in the U.S.)
• Supra.
• Town Ace/Lite Ace (passenger van models are succeeded by Noah / Voxy).
• Paseo / Cynos (1991-1998).
• Tercel (1978-1999).
• Revo/Kijang/Unser/Z-Ace (succeeded by Innova, marketed as Kijang Innova in Indonesia).
• Qualis

Hybrids

The Prius has become the top selling hybrid car in America. Toyota now has three hybrid vehicles in its lineup (Prius, Highlander, & Camry). The popular minivan Toyota Sienna is supposed to join the hybrid lineup by 2010, and by 2030 Toyota plans to have its entire lineup of cars, trucks, and SUVs to have a Hybrid Synergy Drive option.

Lexus also has their own hybrid lineup, consisting of the GS450h and the RX400h.

Manufacturing Facilities

Australia

• Altona, Victoria - Camry and Aurion (formerly Avalon). 109,222 vehicles and 85,769 engines in 2005.

United Kingdom

• Burnaston, Derbyshire - Avensis and Corolla

United States

• Georgetown, Kentucky - Camry, Avalon and Solara.
• Princeton, Indiana - Tundra, Sequoia and Sienna. 364,983 vehicles produced in 2005. (127,431 Tundra, 44,852 Sequoia and 192,700 Sienna)
• San Antonio, Texas - Tundra. Annual capacity of 200,000 pickup trucks.

Motorsport

World Rally Championship

Toyota has had some measure of success in racing, especially in Rally with the Toyota Celica as well as the Toyota Corolla in the 1980s and 1990s. It has a racing cars and parts division called Toyota Racing Development or TRD.

Championship Auto Racing Teams

Toyota raced in CART from 1996 to 2002. Its early years in the series were marked by struggles. Toyota-powered cars, campaigned by the All-American Racers and PPI Motorsports teams, languished at the back of the grid, slow and unreliable. Toyota didn't even lead a lap until Alex Barron led 12 laps at the Vancouver street circuit in September 1998. Toyota started seeing its fortunes improve in 1999 as Scott Pruett took pole position at the final race of the season at the California Speedway. The next year, Juan Pablo Montoya gave Toyota its first-ever CART win at the Milwaukee Mile, the first of 5 races won by Toyota-powered cars that year. Toyota-powered cars won six races in 2001. In 2002, Toyota's final year in the championship, it turned things around completely from its bleak debut. Toyota won the Manufacturer's championship, 10 races, and Cristiano Da Matta rode Toyota power to the driver's championship. As icing on the cake, Bruno Junqueira, also Toyota-powered finished second.

Indy Racing League

Toyota moved to the Indy Racing League in 2003 and provided factory support to former CART teams Penske Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing as well as other teams. They were one of the top engines in their first year, winning the Indianapolis 500 with Gil de Ferran and the championship with Scott Dixon. However, 2004 and 2005 were not so kind and wins were few and far between. Following the 2005 season, the Penske and Ganassi teams announced they would switch engines to Honda, leaving Toyota with no championship contenders. As a result of this and their intent to re-allocate resources for NASCAR, Toyota announced they would leave the series during the offseason.

TRD

Toyota Racing Development was brought about to help develop true high performance racing parts for many Toyota Vehicles. TRD has often had much success with their aftermarket tuning parts, as well as designing technology for vehicles used in all forms of racing.

Prototype Sports Car racing and the 24 Hours of Le Mans

In 1998, Toyota debuted the sleek new GT-One prototype racing cars to compete for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The three Toyota GT-One cars (codenamed TS020) were among the fastest cars on the track, but ultimately failed in their quest for overall victory at Le Mans due to various mechanical and electrical failures. Toyota returned to the Circuit de la Sarthe in 1999 with revised models of its GT-One prototype. The cars proved to be even faster than the year before, but succumbed to reliability problems during the grueling race. After the 1999 race, Toyota withdrew the GT-One cars in favor of focusing its racing research and development on the future Formula One effort.

Formula One

In 2002 Toyota started racing in Formula One with Toyota Team Europe, based in Cologne, Germany. Despite a huge investment, the team's performances have been mediocre so far. In 2004, top designer Mike Gascoyne was hired (he left the team midway through the 2006 season); by 2005 the team had advanced from the midfield to challenging for the top positions. Jarno Trulli achieved two second places and one third place in the first five races of the season, helping the team to retain second position in the Constructors Championship for several races. Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher are the team's current drivers.

NASCAR

Toyota also races the Toyota Tundra in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Toyota will run over six teams in the Nextel Cup Series and Busch Series with the Camry in the start of the 2007 season.

Robotics

Rugby team

• Toyota Verblitz is in Japan's Top League.

Shareholders

Publicly traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange under number 7203 (first section). Also on NYSE under NYSE: TM.

Holdings

Toyota reports on its consolidated financial statements 540 consolidated subsidiaries and 226 affiliates.

• Toyota Motor North America (100% - 2004)
• Hino Motors (50.1% - March 31, 2005)
• Daihatsu Motor Company (51.2% - March 31, 2005)
• DENSO (22.98% - March 31, 2005)
• Aisin Seiki Co. (23.0% - March 31, 2005)
• Toyota Canada Inc. owned via Toyota Motor North America
• Fuji Heavy Industries (8.7% - October 5, 2005)

Non-automotive activities

Finance

Toyota Financial Services Corporation provides financing to Toyota customers.

Agricultural biotechnology

Toyota invests in several small start-up businesses and partnerships in biotechnology, including:

• P.T. Toyota Bio Indonesia in Lampung, Indonesia
• Australian Afforestation Pty. Ltd. in Western Australia and Southern Australia
• Toyota Floritech Co., Ltd. in Rokkasho-Mura, Kamikita District, Aomori Prefecture
• Sichuan Toyota Nitan Development Co., Ltd. in Sichuan, China
• Toyota Roof Garden Corporation in Miyoshi-Cho, Aichi Prefecture

Name

Toyota is also a city in Aichi, Japan, named after the corporation. The basketball and hockey arena in Houston, Texas, the Toyota Center, is also named after the company. A soccer stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, was named Toyota Park just before its opening in 2006. A football (soccer) stadium in Prague, Czech Republic, the Toyota Arena, also bears the company's name, as well as Toyota Park Rugby League Stadium, in Cronulla, New South Wales, Australia, home of the Cronulla Sutherland Sharks Rugby League Team. Toyota also sponsors the Nagoya Grampus Eight. The team also plays its home games at Toyota Stadium. The Los Angeles Kings' practice facility in El Segundo, California is named for Toyota (Toyota Sports Center). Toyota has been one of the Kings' major sponsors for about 20 years. Since 2004, Toyota has held the naming rights for the Australian Football League, and have sponsored the Adelaide Football Club since inception in 1991, through the Camry branding.

Popular culture

• In the hit MMORPG Asheron's Call, players can type /atoyot to experience "quite the feeling", with an associated player graphic, perhaps referring to their well-known 1980s slogan "Oh, what a feeling!"
• The synthpop band, Human League have an instrumental synthesized song titled, Toyota City on their 1980 album Travelogue.
• Toyoda, the surname of the founder from which the company name is derived, means bountiful rice field in Japanese.

See also

• The Toyota Group
• List of Toyota vehicles
• List of Toyota engines
• List of Toyota transmissions
• EPA 2004 fuel economy report (Toyota)
• Toyota automobile collectibles

References

• 2005 Toyota Highlander Hybrid. Retrieved January 11, 2004 from CanadianDriver Communications, Inc. (2004)
• Toyota up close Sales figures of Toyota.
• Toyota becomes 3rd ranked US automaker behind GM and Ford Bloomberg Report.

1. ^ Toyota's plan for Lexus is a reminder of its real goal (August 1 2005). Financial Times, p. 16.
2. ^ Lexus and Toyota Models Rank Highest
3. ^ Lexus Ranked First in Predicted Reliability for 2006 Models

External links

• • Toyota Motor official site
  • Toyota Argentina (Spanish)
  • Toyota Australia
  • Toyota Bangladesh
  • Toyota Bulgaria
  • Toyota Canada
  • Toyota Colombia (Spanish)
  • Toyota España (Spanish)
  • Toyota Finland (Finnish)
  • Toyota Guatemala (Spanish)
  • Toyota India
  • Toyota Indonesia(Indonesian)
  • Toyota Ireland
  • Toyota Israel (Hebrew)
  • Toyota Italia (Italian)
  • Toyota Kazakhstan (Russian) and (Kazakh)
  • Toyota Malaysia
  • Toyota Mexico (Spanish)
  • Toyota New Zealand
  • Toyota Pakistan
  • Toyota Peru (Spanish)
  • Toyota Philippines
  • Toyota Poland (Polish)
  • Toyota Portugal (Portuguese)
  • Toyota Puerto Rico (Spanish)
  • Toyota Saudi Arabia (Arabic)
  • Toyota Singapore
  • Toyota South Africa
  • Toyota Sweden (Swedish)
  • Toyota Thailand (Thai)
  • Toyota SA (Turkey)
  • Toyota UK (Sales Site)
  • Toyota UK (Information Site)
  • Toyota USA
  • Toyota Venezuela (Spanish)
  • Scion USA (requires flash)
  • Lexus USA
  • Toyota Reviews | Specifications | Images
  • Toyota Financial Services USA
  • Current Japanese Toyota lineup
  • Current American Toyota lineup (requires Flash)
  • Toyota North America 2003 Environmental Report (pdf format)
  • Toyota North America 2004 Environmental Report (pdf format)
• Information on Toyota's environmental protection policies

Tuner Clubs

• ToyotaTuners - Toyota Enthusiasts Club

Data

• Yahoo! - Toyota Motor Corporation Company Profile
• Toyota buying GM's Subaru stake

Legal matters

• Competition Bureau of Canada settles Price Maintenance and Misleading Advertising case regarding the Access Toyota Program