Information AboutToyota |
, or Toyota, is a Japan ese Multinational Corporation that produces Automobiles under a number of brands in the Worldwide market. It is the world's largest automaker by revenue (USD $212.39 billionhttp://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=TM), production, sales (first half 2007: 4.72 millionhttp://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2007-07-19-toyota-sales-target_N.htm) and profit ($15.09 billionhttp://biz.yahoo.com/ic/41/41889.html) in front of (a manufacturer of Subaru brand cars), Isuzu Motors (the commercial truck manufacturer) and in Yamaha Motors the engine, motor cycle and marine craft manufacturer. The company includes 522 Subsidiaries . The company was founded in 1937 by Kiichiro Toyoda as a spinoff from his father's company Toyota Industries to create Automobile s. It created, first as a department of Toyota Industries , its first product Type A engine in 1934 and its first passenger car (the Toyota AA ) in 1936. It is headquartered in Toyota, Aichi and Bunkyo Tokyo , Japan. It also provides Financial Services through its Division Toyota Financial Services and also creates robots besides automobiles. Toyota together with its half owned subsidiary vehicles in 2007. Toyota set to overtake GM in 2007 @ CNN __TOC__ FOUNDING AND EARLIER HISTORY ]] The Toyota Motor Corporation r was founded or established on 28 August 1937http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/about_toyota/overview/ when as an offshoot of Toyoda Automatic Loom Company, under the encouragement of the Japanese government, which needed domestic vehicle production partly due to the worldwide money shortage and partly due to the war with China. Although the Toyota Group is best known today for its cars, it is still in the Textile business and still makes automatic Loom s, which are now fully computerized, and electric Sewing Machine s which are available worldwide. Toyota Motor Co. was established as an independent and separate 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 (), with Chinese reading. , the first production model of Toyota in 1936]] During the Pacific War (World War II) the company was dedicated to truck production for the Imperial Japanese 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 . After the war, commercial passenger car production started in 1947 with the model SA. The quality and production principles on which Toyota is based originated in an education program from the United States Army in the postwar era. December 8, 1945: Toyota Resumes Production 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. The following year, the Toyota Crown became the first Japanese car to be exported to the United States and Toyota's American and Brazilian divisions, ''Toyota Motor Sales Inc.'' and ''Toyota do Brazil S.A.'', were also established. Toyota began to expand in the 1960s with a new research and development facility, a presence in Thailand was established, the 10 millionth model was produced, a Deming Prize and partnerships with Hino Motors and Daihatsu were also established. The first Toyota built outside Japan was in April 1963, at Port Melbourne in Australia . Historic Toyota Port Melbourne Plant Ends Operations (AU) By the end of the decade, Toyota had established a worldwide presence, as the company had exported its one-millionth unit. LATER HISTORY AND MANAGEMENT The company was awarded its first Japanese Quality Control Award at the start 1970s and began participating in a wide variety of Motorsport s. Due to the 1973 Oil Crisis consumers in the lucrative U.S. market began turning to small cars with better fuel economy. American car manufacturers had considered small economy cars to be an "entry level" product, and their small vehicles were not made to a high level of quality in order to keep the price low. Japanese customers, however, had a long-standing tradition of demanding small fuel-efficient cars that were manufactured to a high level of quality. Because of this, companies like Toyota, Honda , and Nissan established a strong and growing presence in North America in the 1970s. (center), Katsuhiro Nakagawa (left), Katsuaki Watanabe (right)]] In 1982, the Toyota Motor Company and Toyota Motor Sales merged into one company, the Toyota Motor Corporation. Two years later, Toyota entered into a joint venture with GM called NUMMI , the ''New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc,'' operating an automobile manufacturing plant in Fremont, California. The factory was an old General Motors plant that had been closed for several years. Toyota then started to establish new brands at the end of the 1980s, with the launch of their luxury division Lexus in 1989. 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 Toyota Tundra ), several lines of SUVs, a sport version of the Camry , known as the Camry Solara , and the Scion brand, a group of several affordable, yet sporty, automobiles targeted specifically to young adults. Toyota also began production of the world's best selling hybrid car, the Toyota Prius , in 1997. With a major presence with Europe, due to the success of Toyota Team Europe , the corporation decided to set up TMME , ''Toyota Motor Europe Marketing & Engineering'', to help market vehicles in the continent. Two years later, Toyota set up a base in the United Kingdom , '' TMUK '', as the company's cars had become very popular among British drivers. Bases in Indiana , Virginia and Tianjin were also set up. In 1999, the company decided to list itself on the New York and London Stock Exchange . In 2001, Toyota's Financial Group. In 2002, Toyota managed to enter a Formula One works team and establish joint ventures with French motoring companies Citroën and Peugeot , a year after Toyota started producing cars in France. On December 7 , 2004 , a U.S. press release was issued stating that Toyota would be offering Sirius Satellite Radio s. However, as late as Jan. 27, 2007, Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite radio kits were not available for Toyota factory radios. While the press release enumerated nine models, only limited availability existed at the dealer level in the U.S. Major Lexus dealerships have been offering satellite radio kits for Lexus vehicles since 2005, in addition to factory-equipped satellite radio models. In 2007, Toyota released an update of its full size truck, the Toyota Tundra , produced in two American factories, one in Texas and one in Indiana, and "Motor Trend" named the 2007 Toyota Camry "Car of the Year" for 2007. It also began the construction of a new factory to build the Toyota Highlander in Blue Springs, Mississippi. TOYOTA AT PRESENT DAY Toyota has grown to a large multinational corporation from where it started and expanded to different worldwide markets and countries by becoming the largest seller of cars in the beginning of 2007, the most profitable automaker ($11 billion in 2006) along with increasing sales in, among other countries, the United States. The world Headquarter s of Toyota are located in its home country in Toyota, Aichi , Japan. Its subsidiary, Toyota Financial Services sells financing and participates in other lines of business. Toyota brands include Scion and Lexus and the corporation is part of the Toyota Group . Toyota also owns majority stakes in Daihatsu and Hino , and 8.7% of Fuji Heavy Industries , which manufactures Subaru vehicles. They also acquired 5.9% of Isuzu Motors Ltd. on November 7 , 2006 and will be introducing Isuzu diesel technology into their products. Toyota has introduced new technologies including the first mass-produced (automatic parking), a four-speed electronically controlled automatic with buttons for power and economy shifting, and an eight-speed automatic transmission. Toyota, and Toyota-produced Lexus and Scion automobiles, consistently rank at the top in certain Quality and reliability surveys, primarily J.D. Power and Consumer Reports . Consumer reports lists Toyota as having the most reliable cars In 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. Toyota has a large market share in the United States , but a small market share in Europe. Its also sells vehicles in Africa and is a market leader in Australia. Due to its Daihatsu subsidiary it has significant market shares in several fast-growing Southeast Asia n countries.''Toyota's plan for Lexus is a reminder of its real goal'' ( August 1 , 2005 ). Financial Times, p. 16. In the Fortune Global 500 , Toyota Motor is the 8th largest company in the world. Since the recession of 2001, it has gained market share in the United States. Toyota's market share struggles in Europe where its Lexus brand has three tenths of one percent market share, compared to nearly two percent market share as the U.S. luxury segment leader. In the first three months of 2007, Toyota together with its half-owned subsidiary 2007 Toyota has experienced quality problems and was reprimanded by the government in Japan for its recall practices.Vella, Matt (July 17, 2006). The Most recalled Cars ''Business Week Online'' at ''Yahoo News''. Toyota currently maintains over 16% of the US market share. [http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_6448042] 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 Japan , Australia , Canada , Indonesia , Poland , South Africa , Turkey , the United Kingdom , the United States , France , Brazil , and more recently Pakistan , India , Argentina , Czech Republic , Mexico , Malaysia , Thailand , China , Vietnam , Venezuela , and the Philippines . 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 . 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 . Toyota Motor North America, Inc. See Also: Toyota Motor North America Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America Toyota North America is headquarted in New York City, New York and operates at a Holding Company level in North America. It's manufacturing headquarters is located in Erlanger, Kentucky, and is known as Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America, or TMMNA. Toyota has large presence in the United States with five major assembly plants in Huntsville, Alabama ; Georgetown, Kentucky ; Princeton, Indiana ; San Antonio, Texas ; Buffalo, West Virginia ; and the new one being built in Blue Springs, Mississippi . Toyota also has a joint-venture operation with General Motors at New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI), in Fremont, CA , which began in 1984, and with Subaru at Subaru Of Indiana Automotive, Inc. (SIA), in Lafayette, IN , which started in 2006. Production on a new manufacturing plant in Tupelo, Mississippi is schedule for completion in 2010; it will be producing the Toyota Highlander. North America is a major automobile market for Toyota. In these assembly plants, the Toyota Camry and the 2007 Toyota Tundra are manufactured, among others. It uses a number of catchphrases and/or Slogans in its American TV Commercials such as ''It's time to move forward,'' ''Smart way to keep moving forward,'' or ''Moving forward.'' Toyota and its Lexus brand vehicles consistently rank well in terms of performance and quality in North American automobile magazines, awards and tests. It also started producing larger Truck s such as the new Toyota Tundra to go after the large truck market in the United States. It also pushed Hybrid vehicles in the US such as the Toyota Prius , which is the most sold hybrid vehicle in the country. North American employees and investments Toyota directly employs around 38,340 people in North America. It has made around $16.8 billion in direct Investment s in North America. It has in total produced 14.8 million vehicles, 2.5 million vehicles sales (2005), 39.2 million total vehicles sales, and purchased $26.1 billion worth of "parts, materials and components" as of December 2005 in North America. It has 1,745 North American Dealer s and has given around $301 million as Philanthropy to the United States between 1991 and 2005. About Toyota: Operations -- Toyota by the Numbers MANUFACTURING FACILITIES Australia
Canada
France
Indonesia Mexico Thailand
Turkey
United Kingdom
United States
Joint venture, licensed, and contract factories Czech Republic
Japan
Pakistan
United States
India PRODUCTS AND BRANDS ''(Note: Models and definitions do vary between markets. For specifics, see individual models.)'' THE TOYOTA PRODUCTION SYSTEM Toyota has long been recognized as an industry leader in manufacturing and production. Three stories of its origin have been found, one that they studied Piggly-Wiggly's just-in-time distribution system, one that they followed the writings of W. Edwards Deming , and one that they were given the principles from an Army training program (see above reference). Regardless of the origin, the principles, described in Jeffrey Liker ’s The Toyota Way , are as follows: # Base your management decisions on a long-term philosophy, even at the expense of short-term goals # Create continuous process flow to bring problems to surface # Use “pull” systems to avoid overproduction # Level out the workload # Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time # Standardized tasks are the foundation for continuous improvement and employee empowerment # Use visual control so no problems are hidden # Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that serves your people and processes # Grow leaders who thoroughly understand the work, live the philosophy, and teach it to others # Develop exceptional people and teams who follow your company’s philosophy # Respect your extended network of partners and suppliers by challenging them and helping them improve # Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand the situation (genchi genbutsu) # Make decisions slowly by consensus, thoroughly considering all options; implement decisions rapidly # Become a learning organization through relentless reflection and continuous improvement TOYOTA PHILOSOPHY In Toyota philosophy, ''zeronise'' consists in reducing Pollution , Traffic Death s and Road Congestion . NON-AUTOMOTIVE ACTIVITIES Philanthropy Toyota is supporter of . Higher education Toyota established the , Indiana , etc. Robotics Toyota has been developing multitask robots destined for Elderly Care , manufacturing, and entertainment. 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:
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