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Revision as of 16:30, 11 July 2007

For other uses, see [[:the automaker]].
Toyota Motor Corporation
Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki-gaisha
トヨタ自動車株式会社
Company typePublic corporation (NYSE: TM, TYO: 7203.T, LSE: TYT)
IndustryAutomotive

Robotics Financial services

Biotechnology
Founded1937
FounderKiichiro Toyoda
HeadquartersJapan Toyota, Aichi, Japan manufacturing facilities in 26 countries
Key people
Shoichiro Toyoda, Honorary Chairman
Hiroshi Okuda, Senior Advisor and Member of the Board
Katsuaki Watanabe, President and CEO
Fujio Cho, Chairman
Katsuhiro Nakagawa, Vice Chairman
ProductsToyota

Lexus

Scion
RevenueIncrease ¥23.9 trillion (2006)[1]
(US $196 billion)[2]
Increase ¥1.65 trillion (+7.1%)
(US $13.5 billion)[2]
Number of employees
299,294[2]
SubsidiariesToyota Financial Services

Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd. Hino Motors, Ltd. DENSO Toyota Industries

(522 subisidiaries) [2]
WebsiteToyota Motor Corporation Global Site

Toyota Motor Corporation (トヨタ自動車株式会社, Toyota Jidōsha Kabushiki-gaisha), or Toyota is a Japanese multinational corporation and the world's largest automaker by sales revenue as of the first sales quarter of 2007[3] (in front of General Motors). Together with its half-owned subsidiary Daihatsu, the company was the world's second largest auto company by revenue of $179 billion and total vehicle production, most profitable automaker with net income of around $11 billion, and the world's eighth largest company by revenue in 2006.[3] The company is part of Toyota Group (Toyota Gurupu) and is its largest company. Toyota owns and operates Toyota, Lexus, Scion, and parts of Daihatsu brands, divisions and companies. The company includes 522 subsidiaries.[2]

The company was founded in 1937 by Kiichiro Toyoda as a spinoff from his father's company Toyota Industries to create automobiles. 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, 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 Daihatsu, is the world's largest seller of cars for the first quarter of 2007 selling 2.35 million vehicles.[4] Toyota plans to produce 9.4 million vehicles in 2007.[5]

Founding and earlier history

File:Kiichirotoyoda.jpg
Founder Kiichiro Toyoda

The Toyota Motor Corporation was founded 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. Early vehicles bear a striking resemblance to the Dodge Power Wagon and Chevrolet, with some parts actually interchanging with their American originals.[6] The company was founded in 1933 by Kiichiro Toyoda 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.[6]

File:67 p5 L.jpg
Toyota automatic loom (Type G)
File:Toyotafactory.jpg
Production line at Koromo plant

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 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 (simplified Chinese: 丰田; traditional Chinese: 豐田; pinyin: fēng tián), with Chinese reading.


Replica of the Toyota Model AA, the first production model of Toyota in 1936
File:Toyopetcrown.jpg
Toyopet Crown

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.[7] 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. 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 Motorsports. 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.

File:Toyotamanagement.jpg
Fujio Cho (center), Katsuhiro Nakagawa (left), Katsuaki Watanabe (right)
File:KatsuokaWatanabe.jpg
President and CEO Katsuaki Watanabe

In 1982, the Toyota Motor Company and Toyota Motor Sales merged into one company, the Toyota Motor Corporation. Two years later, Toyota joined NUMMI, the New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. 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 Toyo Trust and Banking merged to form the UFJ, United Financials of Japan, which was accused of corruption by the Japan's government for making bad loans to alleged Yakuza crime syndicates with executives accused of blocking Financial Service Agency inspections.[8] The UFJ was listed among Fortune Magazine's largest money-losing corporations in the world, with Toyota's chairman serving as a director.[9] At the time, the UFJ was one of the largest shareholders of Toyota. As a result of Japan's banking crisis, the UFJ was merged again to become Mitsubishi UFJ 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 Radios. However, as late as Jan. 27, 2007, Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite radio kits were not available for Toyota factory radios.[citation needed] 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 Pavilion at the Expo in Aichi

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 headquarters 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 hybrid gas-electric vehicle, of which it says it has sold 1 million globally (2007-06-07) [10], Advanced Parking Guidance System (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.[11]

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 Asian countries.[12]

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 Daihatsu reported number one sales of 2.348 million units. Toyota's brand sales had risen 9.2% largely on demand for Corolla and Camry sedans. The difference in performance was largely attributed to surging demand for fuel-efficient vehicles. In November 2006, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas added a facility in San Antonio. [13] Toyota has experienced quality problems and was reprimanded by the government in Japan for its recall practices.[14]

Worldwide presence

The headquarters of Toyota in Toyota City, Japan

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.

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. 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.

Main articles: Toyota Motor North America and 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. 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 Blue Springs, 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 Toyota Camry and the 2007 Toyota Tundra among others are manufactured. It uses number of catchphrases and/or slogan 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 brand Lexus vehicles consistently rank well in terms of performance and quality in North American automobile magazines, awards and tests. It also started produce larger trucks such as the new Toyota Tundra editions to go after the bug truck market in the United States. It also pushed hybrid vehicles in the country such as Toyota Prius, which 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 investments 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 dealers and has given around $301 million as philanthropy to the United States between 1991 and 2005. [15]

Manufacturing facilities

Australia

Canada

France

  • Toyota Motor Manufacturing France, Onnaing-Valenciennes - Yaris

Indonesia

Mexico

Thailand

Turkey

United Kingdom

United States


Joint venture, licensed, and contract factories

Czech Republic

Japan

Pakistan

United States

India

Products and brands

Main article: List of Toyota vehicles

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

File:Toyota svg.svg IMV Vehicle Lineup (mainly for S.E. Asia)

The first Toyota brand was the eponymous Toyota, which remains the best selling of Toyota's brands. Sales of Toyota branded vehicles have given Toyota Motor Corporation a 45% domestic market share in Japan, higher than any other manufacturer.[18] In North America, Toyota has achieved success with a full lineup of cars, trucks, SUVs, and other vehicles. In particular, the Toyota Camry has been America's best-selling car for the past five years, and is assembled in Kentucky; the Toyota Corolla has been the second best-selling car for 2006, and is assembled in Cambridge, Ontario Canada. These vehicles have helped drive sales of the Toyota brand in the United States. Total U.S. sales reached 2,220,090 units in 2006, making the brand third overall in U.S. sales for the first time in history.[19]

The Lexus emblem, symbol of Toyota’s luxury division. Scion logo
Main article: Lexus

Lexus is Toyota's brand name for its luxury vehicle division. In 1989, Lexus was launched in the U.S., the culmination of a clandestine seven year initiative to build world-class luxury vehicles. Initially introduced with two vehicles, the LS flagship and the ES sedan, Lexus' full lineup now includes models ranging from the convertible SC to luxury SUVs such as the bestselling RX series. Lexus also produces hybrid vehicles featuring Lexus Hybrid Drive. Lexus is now sold in over forty countries worldwide; the division launched in Europe and Oceania in 1990, and became the first Japanese luxury marque to launch in Japan in 2005. Today, Lexus is the best-selling luxury marque in the U.S., with over 21% luxury market and 1.9% total market share. [20] [21] Lexus has 0.3% total market share in Europe, with recent high growth rates,[22] and is a sales leader in several Asian markets. Globally, Lexus is the fourth largest luxury marque by volume.[23]

Since its debut, Lexus has developed a reputation for reliability and quality customer service. Consumer ratings firm J.D. Power and Associates has named Lexus the most reliable automotive brand for twelve consecutive years.[24] Consumer Reports in 2006 also named Lexus the most reliable brand in its survey of over one million vehicles,[25] and Lexus customers frequently give their dealerships high ratings for customer service. Although Lexus' financial results are not publicly reported, analysts suggest that the Lexus Division is the most profitable business unit of the Toyota Motor Corporation.[26] In 2005, Lexus was organizationally separated from Toyota, gaining its own board of directors and dedicated design, engineering, and manufacturing centers.[27]

Main article: Scion (car)

Scion is a United States, Guam, and Puerto Rico-only division of Toyota founded in 2003. 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. 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 and uses a 2.4 liter engine; it was designed 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.

Iconic models

Toyota Brand

Concept vehicles

Hybrid technology

File:Jb hsd.gif
Toyota Prius, flagship of Toyota's hybrid technology
Main article: Hybrid Synergy Drive

Toyota is one of the largest companies that started pushing hybrid vehicles in the market and one of the first to mass commercially produce such vehicle, an example being the main Toyota Prius. Then it eventually started producing the main smaller cars such as Camry and then it eventually moved on to the Lexus divisions, producing some hybrid luxury vehicles. It labeled such technology and Toyota cars as "Hybrid Synergy Drive" and the Lexus versions as "Lexus Hybrid Drive."

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 GS 450h, RX 400h, and soon in 2007, the LS 600h L.

Guiding Principles at Toyota

1. Honor the language and spirit of the law of every nation and undertake open and fair corporate activities to be a good corporate citizen of the world.

2. Respect the culture and customs of every nation and contribute to economic and social development through corporate activities in the communities.

3. Dedicate ourselves to providing clean and safe products and to enhancing the quality of life everywhere through all our activities.

4. Create and develop advanced technologies and provide outstanding products and services that fulfill the needs of customers worldwide.

5. Foster a corporate culture that enhances individual creativity and teamwork value, while honoring mutual trust and respect between labor and management.

6. Pursue growth in harmony with the global community through innovative management.

7. Work with business partners in research and creation to achieve stable, long-term growth and mutual benefits, while keeping ourselves open to new partnerships.

[28]

Toyota in motorsport

Rallying

Toyota's presence in Motorsport can be traced by to the early 1970s, when Swedish driver, Ove Andersson drove for Toyota during the RAC Rally of Great Britain. During the winter of 1972, Andersson formed Andersson Motorsport in his native country and began running a Rallying program for Toyota. The move turned out to be an impractical one and three years after establishing his team, Andersson moved its base from Sweden to Brussels in Belgium. From there the team was renamed, Toyota Team Europe.

Carlos Sainz, World Champion of 1990 and 1992, driving the Toyota Corolla WRC during the Monte Carlo Rally of 1999.
Despite Toyota's exit from rallying in 1999, the company's cars, namely the Celica and Corolla (pictured), are still a popular choice among rally drivers.

Toyota's first win in motorsport came at the 1975 1000 Lakes Rally of Finland, when Hannu Mikkola and his co-driver, Atso Aho, won the event in a Toyota Corolla. Three years later, the team moved to a new base in Cologne, in western Germany. It wasn't until the 1980s when Toyota began to gain notable success, especially in the African rallies, where Bjorn Waldegaard and Juha Kankkunen were usually top of the time sheets. The team then set-up its all purpose Motorsport facility in Cologne three years later, which is still used today.

In 1990, Carlos Sainz gave Toyota its first ever Championship win in a Four-wheel drive Toyota Celica and repeated the feat 2 years later. In 1993, Toyota bought the team from Andersson and named it Toyota Motorsport GmbH, in the same year Juha Kankkunen won the WRC title and Toyota won the Contsructors' Championship, becoming the first Japanese Manufacturer to do so. This success was repeated a year earlier, but this time it was Frenchman Didier Auriol who was responsible.

1995 proved to be a difficult year for Toyota, as the team were caught using illegal turbo chargers and were given a 12-month ban by the FIA. The company returned to rallying in 1996, but its competition, notably Mitsubishi and Subaru, had a clearer advantage over their cars.

1997 would prove to be another uncompetitive year for Toyota, with the team still behind its fellow Japanese manufacturers, Subaru and Mitsubishi, and the Carlos Sainz the highest place Toyota driver in the Drivers' Championship in third place, 11 points behind champion Tommi Mäkinen. Sainz came within 1 point of the 1998 title, when his Corolla suffered an engine failure on the final stage of the final rally in Great Britain, while Toyota were within 6 points of the Contstructors' Championship, many people place the blame on Toyota's choice to run Belgian Freddy Loix as one of the team's points scoring drivers at the Rally of Spain instead of regular driver Didier Auriol, because Auriol managed to win the event ahead of second-placed Loix.

Toyota decided to quit running in the WRC at the end of the 1999 season, quoting that "all that can be achieved has been achieved". The team managed to secure the Manufacturers' title in their last season, 18 points ahead of their nearest rival Subaru, while Didier Auriol came within 10 points of the Drivers' title.

Toyota were replaced the following season by Peugeot, who went onto win the Manufacturers' title in succession from 2000-2002.

In March 2007, Toyota debuted its Super 2000 Corolla rally car, which will compete in the Australian Rally Championship.[29]

Champ Car

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, with Bruno Junqueira, also Toyota-powered car, finished second.

Le Mans

The Toyota GT-One was raced in the 1998 and 1999 24 hours of Le Mans. Ex-Formula One drivers: Thierry Boutsen, Martin Brundle and Ukyo Katayama drove the GT-One in both events.

Toyota started recruiting staff for their Le Mans efforts in 1997, with an aim to start a Formula One team. Toyota's efforts for a Le Mans car was the Toyota GT-One, which was driven by ex-Formula One drivers: Martin Brundle; Thierry Boutsen and Ukyo Katayama. The 3.6 litre twin-turbo GT-Ones were beaten in 1998 and 1999 but came close to victory, breaking down late in the race. The GT-One held the lap record for the Sarthe Circuit up until 2006 however.

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 off-season.

NASCAR

Toyota races the Toyota Tundra in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and the Toyota Camry in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and the NASCAR Busch Series. Todd Bodine became the first driver to give Toyota their first ever NASCAR championship by winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Title in 2006. Toyota will support three teams in the Nextel Cup Series and Busch Series with the Camry in the 2007 season. There are 5 teams with 10 cars total in the Nextel series, 5 teams and 8 cars in the Busch Series, and 6 teams and 10 trucks in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series making a total of 16 teams and 28 cars in all:

Nextel

Busch

Trucks

Formula One (F1)

File:Toyota F1 logo.png
Toyota F1 racing logo.
Main article: Toyota F1
The Toyota TF107, Toyota F1's car for the 2007 Formula One season.

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 considered less than average by fans and pundits alike.

In 2004, designer Mike Gascoyne was hired to help turn things around (as he had done previously at Jordan Grand Prix and Renault F1). However, due to a lack of results and a difference in opinion with the management about how the team should progress he was released from his contact early midway through the 2006 season; by 2005 the team had advanced from the midfield to infrequently 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 before finishing 4th in the constructors championship. Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher are the team's current drivers.

For 2007, Toyota will also be supplying engines to the Williams team.

Toyota economy

Toyota core segment in the market

Hybrids are viewed by some automakers as a core segment of the future vehicle market.[30]

TRD

Main article: Toyota Racing Development

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.

Shareholders

Toyota is 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.

Accounting Ratios

+ Toyota Motor Corporation Accounting Ratios
Fiscal Year[31] 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002
Fiscal Year End Date 3/31/06 3/31/05 3/31/04 3/31/03 3/31/02
Receivables Turnover 3.6 3.7 3.8 2.5 2.5
Receivables - Number of Days 93.8 93.3 114.2 139.0 129.6
Inventory Turnover 10.7 11.6 11.8 10.9 11.1
Inventory - Number of Days 33.5 31.2 30.5 33.1 32.3
Gross Property, Plant & Equipment Turnover 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.1
Net Property, Plant & Equipment Turnover 3.0 3.2 3.2 2.9 2.8
Depreciation, Depletion & Amortization -
% of Gross Property, Plant & Equipment 7.6% 7.1% 7.3% 6.3% 6.1%
Depreciation, Depletion & Amortization -
Year to Year Change (Japanese Yen) 21,346.5 2,780.9 11,827.0 4,802.7 5,385.5
Depreciation, Depletion & Amortization -
Year to Year % Change 21.4% 2.9% 13.9% 6.0% 7.2%

The Toyota Production System

Main article: 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:

  1. Base your management decisions on a long-term philosophy, even at the expense of short-term goals
  2. Create continuous process flow to bring problems to surface
  3. Use “pull” systems to avoid overproduction
  4. Level out the workload
  5. Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time
  6. Standardized tasks are the foundation for continuous improvement and employee empowerment
  7. Use visual control so no problems are hidden
  8. Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that serves your people and processes
  9. Grow leaders who thoroughly understand the work, live the philosophy, and teach it to others
  10. Develop exceptional people and teams who follow your company’s philosophy
  11. Respect your extended network of partners and suppliers by challenging them and helping them improve
  12. Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand the situation (genchi genbutsu)
  13. Make decisions slowly by consensus, thoroughly considering all options; implement decisions rapidly
  14. Become a learning organization through relentless reflection and continuous improvement

Toyota philosophy

In Toyota philosophy, zeronise consists in reducing pollution, traffic deaths and road congestion.[30]

Non-automotive activities

Philanthropy

Toyota is supporter of Toyota Family Literacy Program along with National Center for Family Literacy, helping low-income community members for education, United Negro College Fund (40 annual scholarships), National Underground Railroad Freedom Center ($1 million) among others[32]. Toyota created Toyota USA Foundation.

Higher education

Toyota established the Toyota Technological Institute in 1981, as Sakichi Toyoda had planned to establish a university as soon as he and Toyota became successful. Toyota Technological Institute founded the Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago in 2003. Toyota is supporter of "Toyota Driving Expectations Program," "Toyota Youth for Understanding Summer Exchange Scholarship Program," "Toyota International Teacher Program," "Toyota TAPESTRY," "Toyota Community Scholars" (scholarship for high school students), "United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Internship Program," and "Toyota Funded Scholarship."[33] It has contributed to number of local education and scholarship programs such as to University of Kentucky, Indiana, etc.[33]

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:



See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b "Toyota Reports Record Year-End Results" (Press release). Toyota Motor Corporation. May 10, 2007. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ a b c d e http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/about_toyota/overview/
  3. ^ a b http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18286221/
  4. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/25/automobiles/25auto.html?ref=business
  5. ^ Toyota set to overtake GM in 2007 @ CNN
  6. ^ a b Toyota corporate history/Toyoland
  7. ^ December 8, 1945: Toyota Resumes Production
  8. ^ Ex-UFJ Execs.Japan Times Weekly: April 30, 2005.
  9. ^ UFJ Holdings Inc., company profile Yahoo Finance. Retrieved on May 8, 2007.
  10. ^ "Toyota tops 1 million in hybrid sales"
  11. ^ Consumer reports lists Toyota as having the most reliable cars
  12. ^ Toyota's plan for Lexus is a reminder of its real goal (August 1, 2005). Financial Times, p. 16.
  13. ^ "Toyota Surpasses GM in Global Sales in First Quarter (Update3)", Bloomberg.com, 24 April 2007
  14. ^ Vella, Matt (July 17, 2006).The Most recalled Cars Business Week Online at Yahoo News.
  15. ^ About Toyota: Operations -- Toyota by the Numbers
  16. ^ Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada
  17. ^ "Toyota Breaks Ground In Mississippi - Majority of construction workers to be hired locally"
  18. ^ Lexus To The Rescue
  19. ^ 2006 Sales: Toyota’s Number Three
  20. ^ Shin, Annys (2006-11-05). "U.S. luxury market 1.5 million in 2006 (Lexus 322,434)". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
  21. ^ Tierney, Christine (2007-01-04). "U.S. auto market share, total sales 16,556,433". Detroit News. Retrieved 2007-05-08.
  22. ^ Edmundson, Gale (2006-02-19). "Europe's Car Market: The '06 Report Card". BusinessWeek. Retrieved 2007-05-06.
  23. ^ van Loon, Jeremy (2007-05-04). "Lexus is the biggest-selling luxury car brand in the U.S.; worldwide data". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2007-05-06.
  24. ^ Lexus and Toyota Models Rank Highest
  25. ^ Lexus Ranked First in Predicted Reliability for 2006 Models
  26. ^ Lexus' Big Test
  27. ^ Automotive Design & Production - Lexus Comes Into Its Own
  28. ^ http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/vision/philosophy/index.html
  29. ^ Toyota Super 2000 Corolla debut
  30. ^ a b http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070416/REG/70416014/-1
  31. ^ CorporateInformation Snapshot of Toyota Motor Corporation
  32. ^ http://www.toyota.com/about/diversity/2001/philanthropy.html
  33. ^ a b http://www.toyota.com/about/community/education/index.html
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