Toyota
Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) is an automobile manufacturing company founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in September 1933 and officially established on August 28, 1937. day. Toyota is the first automaker to achieve an annual output of more than 10 million units. It is also the parent company of the Lexus and Subaru brands and the largest shareholder of Fuji Heavy Industries.
Chinese name
Toyota Motor Corporation
Foreign name
Toyota Motor Corporation
Country
Japan
Headquarters location
Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan
Annual revenue
$275,288.3 million (2019) Company Profile
Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) is an automobile manufacturing company founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in September 1933 and officially established on August 28, 1937.
Toyota is the first car manufacturer to achieve an annual output of more than 10 million units. It is also the parent company of the Lexus and Subaru brands and the largest shareholder of Fuji Heavy Industries.
Development History
Kiichiro Toyoda (1894-1952): The founder of Toyota Motor Company. He created Toyota Motor Industry Co., Ltd. and realized his father's dream. Last wish: To produce "Made in Japan" cars.
Kiichiro Toyoda
Before producing cars
Kiichiro Toyoda was born in 1895. His father, Sakichi Toyoda, was both a famous textile king in Japan[1] and a famous figure in Japan. The "invention maniac".
In fact, Toyota’s history can be traced back to 1896. That year, 29-year-old Sakichi Toyoda invented the "Toyota-style steam-powered loom". The loom he invented is not only the first automatic loom in Japan's history that does not rely on manpower, but also, unlike previous looms, one operator can take care of 3 to 4 machines at the same time, which greatly improves efficiency. productive forces. Even the British Prader Company, the world's number one textile machinery manufacturer at the time, also requested Sakichi Toyoda to transfer patent rights. In the end, Sakichi paid 100,000 pounds (equivalent to 1 million yen at the time) in 1929 (Showa 4). The right to use this patent was sold for a price of .
Enter the automotive field
In 1930, Sakichi Toyoda passed away at the age of 63. What he left to his children was a thriving cotton spinning mill with nearly 10,000 employees. Kiichiro Toyoda, the eldest son of Sakichi Toyoda, is very interested in the world outside Japan. Kiichiro once visited Europe and the United States. He was deeply shocked by the vigorous industrial revolution in Europe and the United States, and cars made his blood boil. He determined that cars must be an important means of transportation in the future.
When Kiichiro Toyoda began to develop cars, General Motors and Ford Motor Company in the United States had already become world-famous large companies. In terms of mass production technology and market operations, the strength of the two companies is enough to surpass all other automobile manufacturers in the world, and they have opened their respective automobile assembly plants in Japan.
However, Kiichiro Toyoda did not pay too much attention to the actions of the two major American auto giants. He devoted himself wholeheartedly to the creation of a domestic automobile industry based on mass production. Within Toyota Automatic Loom Manufacturing Co., Ltd., a new department, the Automotive Department, was born. On August 28, 1937 (Showa 12), the Automobile Ministry announced its independence from Toyota Automatic Loom Manufacturing Co., Ltd. As a new company with a capital of 12 million yen, "Toyota Automobile Industry Co., Ltd." has since embarked on a new journey. My own new journey.
In the newly completed factory, the aa-type sedan began production, with an initial monthly output of only 150 units. A year later, Kiichiro Toyoda, who had firm confidence in the Japanese automobile industry, decisively decided to invest 45 million yen to build a production system with a monthly output of 2,000 vehicles, despite the opposition around him. This huge investment was almost equivalent to the company's Four times the capital!
Japan is a country with poor natural resources, so Kiichiro Toyoda believes that developing cars with high fuel consumption, reliability and durability is a crucial issue for the Japanese automobile industry.
In 1939, the company established a battery research institute and began to develop electric vehicles. In 1940, Toyota produced approximately 15,000 vehicles, 98% of which were passenger and cargo vehicles. That year it launched a relatively compact new sedan, equipped with a 4-cylinder 2.2-liter 48-horsepower engine, which was closer to Sweden's Fu PV60 in appearance. Toyota doesn't have much experience in cars though. But it adheres to a creed: imitation is simpler than creation. It would be better if improvements can be made while imitating. Kiichiro has the same philosophy as his father. He knows that he must first produce safe, solid, economical, and traditional cars, rather than innovative products. So for a long time, all Toyota cars had this feature.
Devastated by the war
In December 1941, the Pacific War broke out. By the end of World War II in August 1945, Japan's industrial production facilities were almost completely destroyed, and Toyota's factories were also destroyed. It suffered heavy damage during the war. In the first few years after the war, the Japanese economy was in chaos. For the Japanese automobile industry, which was already quite backward, company employees were all deeply worried about its development prospects. In order to complete the reconstruction of the automobile industry as a pillar industry for peacetime economic development, Toyota decided in September 1945 (Showa 20) to establish a new small car factory based on the original truck mass production system. This decision was made mainly because American automakers do not produce small cars and hope to avoid direct competition with American automakers. In January 1947, the first small car prototype was finally successfully trial-produced. Based on the principles of fluid mechanics, this prototype car adopts a streamlined body and a spine frame structure, coupled with a four-wheel independent suspension to form a new body mechanism, with a top speed of 87 kilometers per hour.
It took another two years from the birth of the prototype car. By 1949, Toyota's business was finally on the track of stable development.
Entering a period of development and growth
In 1962, Toyota began to enter Europe. This year, Toyota's automobile production exceeded the one million mark for the first time.
The opening of the Meishin Expressway (Nagoya to Kobe) in 1965 ushered in the high-speed era of highway transportation in Japan. The Japanese automobile industry, which has experienced the war and the post-war blank years, can be said to be the least internationally competitive among all Japanese industrial industries at that time. However, Toyota foresaw that large-scale international trade and capital liberalization would soon sweep across Japan. In order to welcome the new era, Toyota stepped up the development of new cars with higher performance, and at the same time invested in enhancing production capacity and improving quality levels. A great effort was made. All these efforts finally bore fruit, and Toyota won the Deming Award in 1965. In the same year, the Japanese government abolished tariff barriers on imported cars. From then on, Toyota began a real competition with foreign car manufacturers in terms of performance and price!
The Corolla sedan launched in 1966 was favored by consumers as a family car, thus setting off a Volkswagen craze. Later, it was exported to North America in 1968 and achieved success again, driving sales to rise sharply. Nearly 30 million Corollas have been produced, making it almost the best-selling car model in the world. It is also produced in China.
With the background of great economic development, Japan's automobile market has shown unprecedented growth momentum. In 1967, the total domestic production reached 3 million vehicles, surpassing West Germany at the time and becoming the second largest automobile in the world. A major automobile manufacturing country. Under such circumstances, Toyota continues to increase investment in new factories and new equipment based on predictions that demand will further expand.
The rapid growth of Japan's automobile industry has stimulated the U.S. government and the three major U.S. auto giants to demand capital liberalization. In 1971 (Showa 46), the Japanese government abolished government management of capital investment, and subsequently several Japanese automobile manufacturers began cooperation with the three major American automobile companies. However, Toyota is not willing to follow the trend and stick to its position as a domestic automobile manufacturer no matter what. On the one hand, it has accelerated the construction of a production system with an annual output of 2 million vehicles.
At the end of 1970, Toyota launched the small sports car Celica. Before it was discontinued at the end of 2004, it had produced almost 4 million units.
In 1971, Toyota's annual output reached 2 million vehicles, becoming the world's third largest automobile manufacturer.
The oil crisis became an opportunity for Toyota's development
In 1973, with the outbreak of the 4th Middle East War, the world economy encountered its first oil crisis. For Japan, which relies almost 100% on imported oil resources, the entire economic activities were greatly affected and immediately fell into great chaos. The hyperinflation of the early postwar period returned to Japan, and demand for cars plummeted. Under this situation, Toyota aimed a new starting point at the limited resources and vigorously launched a campaign to save resources, save energy, and reduce costs. Eiji Toyoda, the son of Kiichiro Toyoda, has always believed that cars are by no means a "luxury" but a real necessity for society. Faced with the pessimism surrounding Japanese society, Toyota adheres to the word "forbearance" and is ready to welcome the day when it can regain its glory.
The two oil crises in 1973 and 1979 greatly changed the automobile demand structure in the United States. People's choice began to shift from large cars to fuel-saving small cars. There was a lack of small car production. U.S. automakers that rely on technology are gradually losing their former competitive advantages. In order to get out of this predicament, U.S. automakers have repeatedly urged the government and Congress to impose restrictions on imported Japanese cars as soon as possible. At the same time, they have repeatedly requested Japanese automobile manufacturers to invest and build factories in the United States in order to compete with American automobile manufacturers on the same starting point. As the trade friction between Japan and the United States intensifies, these claims of American automakers have incited a wave of resistance against Japanese cars in the U.S. Congress and some public opinion. Japanese automakers led by Toyota are also very worried about allowing this situation to develop. If this continues, it will damage the good Japan-US relations. In 1981, the Agreement on Autonomous Restrictions on Car Exports to the United States came into effect. In order not to lose the U.S. auto market, and also out of concern that American consumers who are particularly fond of small cars with superior fuel efficiency will be limited in their choices, Japanese automakers have begun to discuss the issue of setting up production bases in the United States. as its own new business topic. Under this circumstance, Toyota decided to cooperate with General Motors of the United States in production. This will not only create some local employment opportunities, but also transfer small car production technology to American automakers.
In 1983, in order to compete with Honda's Accord series sedans in the North American market, Toyota launched the CAMRY car series. Since then, it has been out of control and has almost become Toyota's most popular model besides the Corolla car model.
Toyota has developed into a huge family with several car series and dozens of models and models. The models it covers range from the lowest-end civilian economy cars to the highest-end luxury cars and SUVs. No matter where in the world Toyota cars are manufactured, they will try their best to achieve globally unified Toyota high quality. This is also an important reason why Toyota can achieve global success. Toyota's profits exceed those of the world's first and second largest car companies combined