[shantyrocks]

As we all know Toyota was the largest automaker in the world in 2009.
This jap company established in 1937 has come a long way in becoming the largest and one of the most reliable automaker today.Lets go in the past and trace the history of TOYOTA.

Toyota was founded by kiichiro Toyoda in 1937.In its initail years, it focussed on adapting the Ford production systemto suit the jap marketHowever later on it adopted the Toyota production system( TPS) which took the automotive industry by storm and enabled the company to come out with many innovative models in a cost-efficient way.

Following World war 2 ,international manufacturers were concentrating on medium sized and larger cars but Toyota focussed on small cars
Kiichiro resigned from Toyota in 1950 and the company saw a series of presidents in the subsequent years
[The company started its globalisation in 1950s and entered the US market in 1957.
It established its first overseas unit in 1959 in Brazil
]It entered the european market in 1963
Besides manufaturing the company started a globel network of design and R& D facilities covering the three major car markets of Japan, North America and Europe
It focussed on lowering its production cost and developing more sophisticated cars.[/
The corolla which went on sale in 1966 went on to become Japans most popular car
By the early 1970s Toyotas producyion wa behind that of only GM and Ford.It also began to tap the markets in the middle east
By 1974 the corolla had become the largest selling car in the world, and a decade later Toyota ranked second only to GM in the total number of cars produced
some facts abt corolla:

1. It was launched with a 1.1 litre 66bhp engine
2. max speed : 87mpHThe Corolla used modern unit-body construction, and the engine was hooked up to a four-speed synchronized manual transmission, again, at a time when most cars had a three-speed as their base manual and a four-speed as a sporty option. The small engine was sturdy, with five main bearings.
3. The 1970 model was bigger, powered by a "much larger" 1.2 liter engine (73 net horsepower), now with an optional automatic transmission to suit American tastes.The next year, 1971, brought a 1.6 liter engine, more in tune with American tastes; it produced 102 BHP
4. At $1,830 starting price, the Corolla promised more value than just about any other car on the road.
5. It gave the best in-class Fuel economy at that time.
6. Most Corollas come standard with features like fully reclining front bucket seats wall-to-wall carpeting, steel-belted radials, tinted glass, even an electric window defogger.

By the end of 1980s ,toyota began to build new brands and the luxury division Lexus was launched
After some setbacks in the early 1990s, the company began to grow further under the leadership of Hiroshi okuda who focussed on international expansion and localisation of production.

TO BE CONTINUED...

[shantyrocks]

Hiroshi okuda focussed on a strong dealer network and increased on advertising.This resulted in a significant increase in sales.

One of Toyotas major innovations was the Prius,a gasoline electric car and the worlds first mass-produced hybrid car launched in 1997.

The companies overseas production increased from 1.22 million units per year in 1994 to 1.54 million units per year in 1998.

In 1999,Fujio cho became the president of Toyota
Besides increasing manufacturing centres and expanding sales network workwide he focussed on localising design,development and purchasing in every country.

Toyota propagated the TPS and its unique corporate culture.
Toyota employees world wide practiced philosophies such as kaizen( continuous improvement) ,PDCA( plan,do,check,action),pokayoke(mistake-proofing) and JIT ( just in time)

In 2000 for the first time ,Toyotas world wide production exceeded 5 million vehicles.
In 2001 it started two new plants in europe and in 2002, it established toyota motor manufacturing company in Turkey to manufacture corolla sedans for export markets.

In 2005 , Katsuku watanabe was appointed president.
In the first quarter of 2007 toyota replaced GM as the worlds largest automaker breaking the latters 77 year reign.The company 2.35 million vehicles compared to the latters 2.26 million.
Based on market capitalisation , Toyota was valued at almost 12 times GMs value.

TO BE CONTINUED...

[DicKy]

Nice to read about toyota history other than wikipedia,
Would you care to write about the cressida and landcruiser.Also don't forget one historical move-Lexus
Any info on the one=off toyota origin.

[ir458]

Nice Article!!

Last month I finished reading the book - "The Toyota Way".
It gives excellent details about how Lexus was developed.
Similarly another chapter deals with the development of Prius.

However, most of the book deals with the management principles of Toyota.
A chapter is dedicated to each of the 14 Toyota principles with numerous examples and case studies from automotive industry.

[aargee]

Good thread; I've subscribed to watch out more updates; Thanks for sharing.

[amitk26]

Now the dark side , I read it first in International Herald Tribune and now there is NY Times link. Toyota has just recalled vehicles in USA because of strong consumer protection laws but Toyota was successful in getting a consumer activist and his lawyer Jailed years ago in Japan for raising same issues. In Japan Corporate interests comes above consumers.

Here is the relevant portion.

"The most active was the Japan Automobile Consumers Union, led by Fumio Matsuda, a former Nissan engineer often referred to as the Ralph Nader of Japan. But the automakers fought back with a campaign discrediting the activists as dangerous agitators. Mr. Matsuda and his lawyer were soon arrested and charged with blackmail. They fought the charges to Japan’s highest court, but lost.
Now, few people are willing to take on the country’s manufacturers at the risk of arrest, Mr. Matsuda said in a recent interview. “The state sided with the automakers, not the consumers,” he said."


Full Story
Toyota Owners Report Problems in Japan to No Avail - NYTimes.com

[DicKy]

Where you gone shantyrocks??
continue the thread.

[Jayabusa]

Is a glorification thread required at a time when Toyota is receiving so much flak? No offence meant to anyone though.

[shantyrocks]

hey sorry guys...
little one just recovered from a bad bout of stomach infection that kept me away from the P.C.
Got loads of information to share.
Will get back with it soon.

[shantyrocks]

In the new millenium automakers had to contend with many challanges including high gas prices.As the global financial crisis deepened in 2008,the consumer demand for cars went down,especially in the U.S and European markets.Automakers reacted by cutting back production and slashing jobs.
In 2008 though Toyotas sales were 4% lower compared to 2007 it still sold 8.97 million vehicles compared to GMs 8.35 million.

Toyotas hybrid technology car prius became popular due to the increase in gas prices.But eventually the company too was affected and its global sales fell 32.3%.

In north america which accounted for a third of Toyotas worldwide revenues,sales fell by 15%.

The sales of large pick ups and trucks fell by 25% and SUVs by 30%.

In early 2009 Toyota projected a loss of US$5bn for fiscal year 2009.It immediatly applied for a emergency loan of US$2 bn with the jap government.
In april 2009 Toyota reported a fall of 42% compared to 2008.
Unsold toyotas lay piled up in storage lots.
Toyota also witnessed a loss in japan and china,where it lost out to rivals who were coming out with a wider line-up of smaller cars at reasonable prices.

In may 2009 ,Toyota reported its first annual loss in 6 decades as net revenues for the fiscal year 2009 totalled 20.53 tn yen ,a decrease of 21.9%.
consolidated sales toatalled 7.57 million units ,a decrease of 1.34 million units compared to 2008.

This was a dramatic turn about for an automaker whose steady expansion and record profits had seemed unstoppable.
So what went wrong....?

to be continued...

[vinaydas]

good thread hooked on
They Brought a new meaning to the Term Reliable in the American Market.

[DicKy]

Good to see ya back.More of toyota.