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83-497: The overall competitiveness of the car compared with other 2010 Formula One cars is unknown. Former Williams driver Kazuki Nakajima completed a shakedown of the TF110 at Cologne, Germany. The car was said to feature a rear-F-duct, and "one of the most extreme rear diffusers seen" and also a ride height adjustment system. When Pirelli was awarded the contract to take over the exclusive supply of tyres to Formula One from 2011 onwards, there

166-562: A Toyota MR-S in the GT300 class with Minoru Tanaka . He returned to the category in 2011 , driving a Lexus SC430 in the GT500 class with Formula Nippon rival Lotterer. For 2012 he continued to drive a SC430, now partnered with Loïc Duval . In 2013 he partnered with James Rossiter , scoring two wins and a third-place finish to rank third in the drivers standings. In 2014 he drove a Lexus RC F with Rossiter, winning two races. The driver returned to

249-855: A 2.8% stake in Panasonic , as well as stakes in vehicle manufacturing joint-ventures in China ( FAW Toyota and GAC Toyota ), the Czech Republic ( TPCA ), India ( Toyota Kirloskar ) and the United States ( MTMUS ). Toyota is listed on the London Stock Exchange , Nagoya Stock Exchange , New York Stock Exchange and on the Tokyo Stock Exchange , where its stock is a component of the Nikkei 225 and TOPIX Core30 indices. In 1924, Sakichi Toyoda invented

332-412: A Toyota LMP1 full-time driver for the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship , scoring a third place at Silverstone as best result. In 2016 he scored a third-place finish at Shanghai. Nakajima began the 2017 season with two wins at Silverstone and Spa. Nakajima won the 2018 Le Mans 24 Hours race in the #8 Toyota, along with Fernando Alonso and Sébastian Buemi. Nakajima, Buemi and Alonso then repeated

415-471: A class below the Crown and Century and offered hardtop coupes and sedans. The Supra , Mark II , Cresta and Chaser offered several trim packages with different engine displacements to provide buyers with annual road tax advantages. At the same time, sports cars like Celica , Corolla Levin and Sprinter Trueno sold very well. Efforts to open a Toyota assembly plant in the United States started in 1980, with

498-514: A drop in production and exports. Severe flooding during the 2011 monsoon season in Thailand affected Japanese automakers that had chosen Thailand as a production base. Toyota is estimated to have lost production of 150,000 units to the tsunami and production of 240,000 units to the floods. On February 10, 2014, it was announced that Toyota would cease manufacturing vehicles and engines in Australia by

581-760: A joint venture with local partner Astra International in 1971, and conducted significant retooling at the PT Gaya Motor assembly plant. The plant began assembling various models, including the Toyota Corona, Toyota Land Cruiser, large trucks, and the Toyota Corolla, with production surpassing 10,000 vehicles by 1973. For both countries, Toyota developed a basic utility vehicle (BUV) with the local partners to meet local needs and support technology transfers, in response to domestic production policies in Asia. The first prototype of

664-583: A long-standing partnership between Toyota and the two companies. After the successes of the 1970s, and the threats of import restrictions, Toyota started making additional investments in the North American market in the 1980s. In 1981, Japan agreed to voluntary export restraints , which limited the number of vehicles the nation would send to the United States each year, leading Toyota to establish assembly plants in North America. The U.S. government also closed

747-426: A point, and retired from the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix after hitting the pit wall when pitting for a new front wing. Nakajima scored another point at the 2008 British Grand Prix , after losing seventh place on the last lap. In Singapore , Nakajima made it to the third qualifying round for the first time qualifying 10th on the grid. He went on to finish eighth and scored a point. Nakajima was retained by Williams for

830-672: A production facility in Brazil, the company's first outside of Japan. Toyota entered the United States market in 1958, attempting to sell the Toyopet Crown. The company faced problems almost immediately. The company had to confront for the first time how its name sounded to native speakers of the English language; namely, "Toyota" has the English word " toy " in its first syllable. Toyota Motor Sales, USA 's first sales administrator James F. McGraw bluntly told his new Japanese supervisors after joining

913-635: A race seat in 2008 . Nakajima's debut in a Formula One car came at Fuji Speedway during November 2006, where he completed four demonstration laps in wet conditions. Nakajima raced in the GP2 series in 2007 for the DAMS team alongside French 2005–06 A1 Grand Prix winner Nicolas Lapierre . Nakajima also served as Williams' test driver, completing 7,000 km of testing for the team. Nakajima's first year in GP2 finished with no wins, but five consecutive podiums and ended

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996-502: A seat on the board of directors in 2000. Akio's promotion by the board marked the return of a member of the Toyoda family to the top leadership role for the first time since 1999. In 2011, Toyota, along with large parts of the Japanese automotive industry , suffered from a series of natural disasters. The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami led to a severe disruption of the supplier base and

1079-532: A seat. However, in January, reports tied Nakajima to team Stefan GP , which had consolidated remnants of the Toyota F1 team after the Japanese manufacturer's withdrawal from the sport in late 2009. Stefan duly confirmed on 19 February 2010 that Nakajima was one of the team's drivers, although the team did not have an entry to the 2010 Formula One season. The FIA subsequently ruled that Stefan GP could not be entered for

1162-510: A vehicle. At the same time, the Japanese government heavily invested in improving road infrastructure. To take advantage of the moment, Toyota and other automakers started offering affordable economy cars like the Toyota Corolla , which became the world's all-time best-selling automobile . Toyota also found success in the United States in 1965 with the Toyota Corona compact car, which

1245-488: A white Corolla, rolled off the line at NUMMI on October 7, 1986. Toyota received its first Japanese Quality Control Award at the start of the 1980s and began participating in a wide variety of motorsports . Conservative Toyota held on to rear-wheel-drive designs for longer than most; while a clear first in overall production they were only third in production of front-wheel-drive cars in 1983, behind Nissan and Honda. In part due to this, Nissan's Sunny managed to squeeze by

1328-495: Is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi , Japan . It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the largest automobile manufacturer in the world, producing about 10 million vehicles per year. The company was founded as a spinoff of Toyota Industries , a machine maker started by Sakichi Toyoda , Kiichiro's father. Both companies are now part of

1411-781: Is a Japanese former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from 2007 to 2009 . In Japanese motorsport , Nakajima won the Super Formula Championship in 2012 and 2014 with TOM'S . In endurance racing , Nakajima won the 2018–19 FIA World Endurance Championship , and is a three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans , which he won consecutively from 2018 to 2020 , all with Toyota . Since 2022, Nakajima has served as vice-chairman of Toyota in WEC, winning three consecutive World Manufacturers' Championship titles from 2022 to 2024 . Kazuki Nakajima

1494-761: The T100 (and later the Tundra ), several lines of SUVs, a sport version of the Camry , known as the Camry Solara . They would also launch newer iterations of their sports cars, namely the MR2 , Celica , and Supra during this era. In Japan, Toyota continued to cater to the growing demand for mid-level luxury cars and offered several conventional and pillared hardtops sedans at its Japanese dealership network. The Soarer , Mark II , Cresta , Chaser , Corona EXiV , and Carina ED found many buyers. At

1577-615: The Tiara . After Kiichiro's death, his cousin Eiji Toyoda led the company for the two decades. Eiji helped establish the company's first plant independent from the Loom Works plant. At the start of the 1960s, the Japanese economy was booming, a period that came to be known as the Japanese economic miracle . As the economy grew, so did the income of everyday people, who now could afford to purchase

1660-595: The Toyota Group , one of the largest conglomerates in the world. While still a department of Toyota Industries, the company developed its first product, the Type A engine , in 1934 and its first passenger car in 1936, the Toyota AA . After World War II , Toyota benefited from Japan's alliance with the United States to learn from American automakers and other companies, which gave rise to The Toyota Way (a management philosophy) and

1743-828: The Toyota Mirai , a technology that is much costlier and has fallen far behind electric batteries in terms of adoption. As of 2024 , the Toyota Motor Corporation produces vehicles under four brands: Daihatsu , Hino , Lexus and the namesake Toyota. The company also holds a 20% stake in Subaru Corporation , a 5.1% stake in Mazda , a 4.9% stake in Suzuki , a 4.6% stake in Isuzu , a 3.8% stake in Yamaha Motor Corporation , and

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1826-573: The Toyota Production System (a lean manufacturing practice) that transformed the small company into a leader in the industry and was the subject of many academic studies. In the 1960s, Toyota took advantage of the rapidly growing Japanese economy to sell cars to a growing middle-class, leading to the development of the Toyota Corolla , which became the world's all-time best-selling automobile . The booming economy also funded an international expansion that allowed Toyota to grow into one of

1909-643: The 20 races and finishing fifth in the Drivers' Championship. Nakajima stayed in Japanese Formula Three for 2005, finishing second. He dovetailed that championship with appearances in the Japanese GT300 sports car series, where he ended the year eighth. Nakajima moved to the Formula Three Euroseries in 2006 and competed against the likes of Sebastian Vettel and Paul di Resta . After starting

1992-485: The 2009 season. At the 2009 Australian Grand Prix he crashed into the wall at turn six, putting him out of the race. Nakajima was the only driver to retire at Bahrain, stopping five laps before the end with overheated oil. He also crashed on the penultimate lap of the Monaco Grand Prix whilst running in 10th place. He came close to scoring at several Grands Prix, including losing a points finish after being delayed in

2075-413: The 25% " chicken tax " on imported light trucks. By importing the truck as an incomplete chassis cab (the truck without a bed), the vehicle only faced a 4% tariff. Once in the United States, Atlas would build the truck beds and attach them to the trucks. The partnership was successful and two years later, Toyota purchased Atlas. In Southeast Asia, Toyota made efforts to establish domestic production in

2158-766: The BUV was completed in January 1975. The BUV was launched as the Toyota Tamaraw in the Philippines in December 1976, and as the Toyota Kijang in June 1977. The vehicle was well received in both countries. The energy crisis of the 1970s was a major turning point in the American auto industry. Before the crisis, large and heavy vehicles with powerful but inefficient engines were common. But in

2241-563: The Camry sedan, Camry hybrid, Prius and the RAV4 during the launching event at the Grand Hyatt Seoul. Between 2009 and 2011, Toyota conducted recalls of millions of vehicles after reports that several drivers experienced unintended acceleration . The recalls were to prevent a front driver's side floor mat from sliding into the foot pedal well, causing the pedals to become trapped and to correct

2324-590: The Corolla in numbers built that year. Before the decade was out, Toyota introduced Lexus , a new division that was formed to market and service luxury vehicles in international markets. Prior to the debut of Lexus, Toyota's two existing flagship models, the Crown and Century , both catered exclusively for the Japanese market and had little global appeal that could compete with international luxury brands such as Mercedes-Benz , BMW and Jaguar . The company had been developing

2407-530: The Crown went on sale in August 1955. The car was met with positive reviews from around the world. After the introduction of the Crown, Toyota began aggressively expanding into the export market; the company entered Saudi Arabia for the first time in 1955 with Land Cruisers, following an agreement reached with Abdul Latif Jameel (founder of his company of the same name ); Toyota also brought Land Cruisers into neighboring Yemen in 1956. In 1958, Toyota established

2490-694: The Japanese Super GT in 2017 with a TOM's Lexus LC . In 2012, Nakajima was selected by Toyota to be one of the drivers for its assault on the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and the FIA World Endurance Championship , driving the prototype Toyota TS030 Hybrid . At Le Mans, he hit the Nissan DeltaWing hard enough to knock it off the circuit, causing substantial damage to the Nissan, and significant damage to his own car — neither car finished

2573-414: The Philippines and Indonesia in early 1970s. In the Philippines, it partnered with local company Delta Motor Corporation . Toyota assisted Delta Motor with capital procurement and technology transfers. In 1973, Delta Motor commenced operations at a new plant, beginning local production of engine blocks for the Toyota Corona 12R engine and other parts. In Indonesia, Toyota established Toyota Astra Motor as

Toyota TF110 - Misplaced Pages Continue

2656-508: The Prius. In 2001, Toyota acquired its long time partner, truck and bus manufacturer Hino Motors . In 2002, Toyota entered Formula One competition and established a manufacturing joint venture in France with French automakers Citroën and Peugeot . A youth-oriented marque for North America, Scion , was introduced in 2003. Toyota ranked eighth on Forbes 2000 list of the world's leading companies for

2739-560: The Soviet Union and the U.S., who had been allies in World War II. U.S. priorities shifted (the " Reverse Course ") from punishing and reforming Japan to ensuring internal political stability, rebuilding the economy, and, to an extent, remilitarizing Japan. Under these new policies, in 1949, Japanese automakers were allowed to resume passenger car production, but at the same time, a new economic stabilization program to control inflation plunged

2822-514: The Toyoda Model G Automatic loom . The principle of jidoka , which means the machine stops itself when a problem occurs, became later a part of the Toyota Production System . Looms were built on a small production line . In 1929, the patent for the automatic loom was sold to the British company Platt Brothers , generating the starting capital for automobile development. Under the direction of

2905-485: The Toyota Motor Company Ltd. Kiichiro's brother-in-law Rizaburo Toyoda was appointed the firm's first president, with Kiichiro as vice-president. Toyota Automatic Loom Works formally transferred automobile manufacturing to the new entity on September 29. The Japanese government supported the company by preventing foreign competitors Ford and General Motors from importing automobiles into Japan. At

2988-529: The Toyota Production System. For Toyota, the factory gave the company its first manufacturing base in North America allowing it to avoid any future tariffs on imported vehicles and saw GM as a partner who could show them how to navigate the American labor environment. The plant would be led by Tatsuro Toyoda , the younger brother of company president Shoichiro Toyoda. The first Toyota assembled in America,

3071-475: The United States government over accusations that it had intentionally hid information about safety defects and had made deceptive statements to protect its brand image. Amid the unintended acceleration scandal, Katsuaki Watanabe stepped down as company president. He was replaced by Akio Toyoda , grandson of company founder Kiichiro Toyoda, on June 23, 2009. Akio had been with Toyota since 1984, working jobs in production, marketing and product development, and took

3154-712: The Williams team for the 2008 season. He had a successful start to 2008 at the Australian Grand Prix , finishing seventh but promoted to sixth after Rubens Barrichello was disqualified, even whilst knocking Robert Kubica out of the race and being penalised. He then finished seventh in the Spanish Grand Prix , having outqualified his teammate. A first-corner incident with Giancarlo Fisichella at Istanbul forced him to retire. Nakajima scored two points at Monaco where no Japanese Formula One driver had previously scored

3237-782: The achievement in 2019, at the same time clinching the 2018–19 FIA World Endurance Championship , making Nakajima the second Japanese FIA world champion after Toshi Arai . Nakajima retired from racing after the 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship to take on the role of vice-chairman at Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe , with Ryō Hirakawa taking over his seat. ‡ Team standings ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Did not finish, but

3320-545: The automotive industry into a serious shortage of funds, while many truck owners defaulted on their loans. Ultimately, the Bank of Japan , the central bank of the country, bailed out the company, with demands that the company institute reforms. As the 1950s began, Toyota emerged from its financial crisis a smaller company, closing factories and laying off workers. Meanwhile, the Korean War broke out, and being located so close to

3403-470: The battlefront, the U.S. Army placed an order for 1,000 trucks from Toyota. The order helped to rapidly improve the struggling company's business performance. In 1950, company executives, including Kiichiro's cousin Eiji Toyoda , took a trip to the United States where they trained at the Ford Motor Company and observed the operations of dozens of U.S. manufacturers. The knowledge they gained during

Toyota TF110 - Misplaced Pages Continue

3486-453: The brand and vehicles in secret since August 1983, at a cost of over US$ 1 billion. The LS 400 flagship full-size sedan debuted in 1989 to strong sales, and was largely responsible for the successful launch of the Lexus marque. 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,

3569-426: The chassis following their split with car designers Dallara. Their boss José Ramón Carabante made several visits to Cologne but never sealed a deal to buy. Durango also considered purchasing the units for use in the 2011 Formula One season but they were not given an entry slot for the season. Kazuki Nakajima Kazuki Nakajima ( Japanese : 中嶋 一貴 , Hepburn : Nakajima Kazuki , born 11 January 1985)

3652-461: The company in 1959: "'Toy' sounds like a toy and toys break". The Crown was a flop in the U.S. market, with buyers finding it overpriced and underpowered (because it was designed for endurance on the bad roads of Japan, not high-speed performance on the good roads of America). In response, exports of the Crown to the United States were suspended in the early 1960s in favor of the Land Cruiser and

3735-537: The company proposing a joint-venture with the Ford Motor Company . Those talks broke down in July 1981. Eventually in 1984, the company struck a deal with General Motors (GM) to establish a joint-venture vehicle manufacturing plant called NUMMI (New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc.) in Fremont, California . GM saw the joint venture as a way to get access to a quality small car and an opportunity to learn about The Toyota Way and

3818-417: The company ran a public competition to design a new logo. Of 27,000 entries, the winning entry was the three Japanese katakana letters for "Toyoda" in a circle. However, Rizaburo Toyoda , who had married into the family and was not born with that name, preferred "Toyota" ( トヨタ ) because it took eight brush strokes (a lucky number) to write in Japanese, was visually simpler (leaving off the diacritic at

3901-538: The company their father had founded. In 1992, Shoichiro Toyoda would shift to become chairman, allowing his brother Tatsuro to become president, a job he held until his retirement in 1995. Shoichiro would step down as chairman in 1999. Both would retain honorary advisory roles in the company. Hiroshi Okuda would lead the company as president from 1995 until 1999 when he became chairman and the President's office would be filled by Fujio Cho . In August 2000, exports began of

3984-454: The company to 33.4 percent, giving Toyota the ability to veto shareholder resolutions at the annual meeting. In 1998, Toyota increased its holding in the company to 51.2 percent, becoming the majority shareholder. On September 29, 1999, the company decided to list itself on the New York and London Stock Exchanges . The later half of the 1990s would also see the Toyoda brothers step back from

4067-711: The company's first truck, the G1 , was completed on August 25, 1935, and debuted on November 21 in Tokyo, becoming the company's first production model. Modeled on a period Ford truck, the G1 sold for ¥2,900, ¥200 cheaper than the Ford truck. A total of 379 G1 trucks were ultimately produced. In April 1936, Toyoda's first passenger car, the Model AA , was completed. The sales price was ¥3,350, ¥400 cheaper than Ford or GM cars. The company's plant at Kariya

4150-418: The corporation's Young Drivers Program . His father had been backed by Toyota's arch-rivals Honda through his career. Nakajima hoped that by joining Toyota he would shield himself against any accusations that his father had promoted his career. In 2002, Nakajima won a scholarship in Formula Toyota, which he became champion in a year later. He progressed onto Japanese Formula Three in 2004, winning two of

4233-508: The design and manufacturing of auto bodies, which were then mounted on truck frames made by Toyota. The project was a major test for Toyota, who would need to build bodies and develop a new chassis that would be comfortable, but still stand up to the muddy, slow, unpaved roads common in Japan at the time. The project had been championed for many years by founder Kiichiro Toyoda, who died suddenly on March 27, 1952. The first prototypes were completed in June 1953 and began extensive testing, before

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4316-601: The end of 2017. The decision was based on the unfavourable Australian dollar making exports not viable, the high cost of local manufacture, and the high amount of competition in a relatively small local market. The company planned to consolidate its corporate functions in Melbourne by the end of 2017, and retain its Altona plant for other functions. The workforce is expected to be reduced from 3,900 to 1,300. Both Ford Motor Company and General Motors ( Holden ) followed suit, ending Australian production in 2016 and 2017 respectively. The automaker narrowly topped global sales for

4399-434: The end), and with a voiceless consonant instead of a voiced one (voiced consonants are considered to have a "murky" or "muddy" sound compared to voiceless consonants, which are "clear"). Since toyoda literally means "fertile rice paddies", changing the name also prevented the company from being associated with old-fashioned farming. The newly formed word was trademarked and the company began trading on August 28, 1937, as

4482-446: The first time on February 19. The team had intended to launch and test its car on 25 February regardless of whether or not its application to the grid was successful. The test was scheduled to take place at Portimao , with Kazuki Nakajima at the wheel. Stefan GP were refused entry to race in Formula One, and never given official Formula One specification tyres by Bridgestone . Hispania Racing , already in Formula One, considered buying

4565-479: The founder's son, Kiichiro Toyoda , Toyoda Automatic Loom Works established an Automobile Division on September 1, 1933, and formally declared its intention to begin manufacturing automobiles on January 29, 1934. A prototype Toyota Type A engine was completed on September 25, 1934, with the company's first prototype sedan, the A1 , completed the following May. As Kiichiro had limited experience with automobile production, he initially focused on truck production;

4648-420: The largest automakers in the world, the largest company in Japan and the ninth-largest company in the world by revenue , as of December 2020 . Toyota was the world's first automobile manufacturer to produce more than 10 million vehicles per year, a record set in 2012, when it also reported the production of its 200 millionth vehicle. By September 2023, total production reached 300 million vehicles. Toyota

4731-630: The loophole that allowed Toyota to pay lower taxes by building truck beds in America. Also in 1981, Eiji Toyoda stepped down as president and assumed the title of chairman. He was succeeded as president by Shoichiro Toyoda , the son of the company's founder. Within months, Shoichiro started to merge Toyota's sales and production organizations, and in 1982 the combined companies became the Toyota Motor Corporation. The two groups were described as "oil and water" and it took years of leadership from Shoichiro to successfully combine them into one organization. In Japan, Toyota offered mid-level luxury cars that were

4814-399: The onset of World War II , Toyota almost exclusively produced standard-sized trucks for the Japanese Army, which paid one-fifth of the price in advance and the remainder in cash upon delivery. Japan was heavily damaged in World War II and Toyota's plants, which were used for the war effort, were not spared. On August 14, 1945, one day before the surrender of Japan , Toyota's Koromo Plant

4897-507: The other in Blue Springs, Mississippi, USA. The company was number one in global automobile sales for the first quarter of 2008. Toyota was hit by the global financial crisis of 2008 as it was forced in December 2008 to forecast its first annual loss in 70 years. In January 2009, it announced the closure of all of its Japanese plants for 11 days to reduce output and stocks of unsold vehicles. In October 2009, Toyota announced that they were establishing an office in South Korea and launched

4980-511: The pit lane at the Turkish Grand Prix . At the British Grand Prix , Nakajima secured his highest ever Formula One grid slot, qualifying in an impressive fifth place ahead of world championship leader Jenson Button . However, his race was compromised by poor pit strategy, and he eventually finished outside the points. Nakajima once again nearly scored at the Hungarian Grand Prix , finishing just 0.7 seconds behind eighth place Jarno Trulli . He finished ninth again in Singapore . At Brazil Nakajima

5063-405: The possible mechanical sticking of the accelerator pedal . At least 37 were killed in crashes allegedly related to unintended acceleration, approximately 9 million cars and trucks were recalled, Toyota was sued for personal injuries and wrongful deaths, paid US$ 1 billion to settle a class action lawsuit to compensate owners for lost resale value, and paid a US$ 1.2 billion criminal penalty to

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5146-419: The race, setting the fifth fastest lap – quicker than his teammate Nico Rosberg , who finished fourth. At his first pit stop, Nakajima overshot his box and hit two of his mechanics. The mechanics were taken to hospital for precautionary checks. Nakajima apologised for the error: "First of all I would say I'm really sorry that some of my mechanics were injured during my pitstop and that I hope they're OK. It

5229-504: The race. He finished runner-up at the 2012 6 Hours of Silverstone . At the 2012 6 Hours of Fuji , Nakajima took pole position for Toyota before triple stinting in the race to bring home the TS030's second win in competition and Nakajima's first with the team. Nakajima continued as Toyota LMP1 part-time driver the next two seasons. He won the 2013 6 Hours of Fuji , a race cancelled with no laps under green flag. In 2014 he finished second at Silverstone, Fuji and Shanghai. The Japanese became

5312-433: The same time, sports cars like the Supra , Celica , MR2 , Corolla Levin , Sprinter Trueno , and even the subcompact Starlet GT reflected a time of prosperity. December 1997 saw the introduction of the first-generation Toyota Prius , the first mass-produced gasoline-electric hybrid car. The vehicle would be produced exclusively for the Japanese market for the first two years. With a major presence in Europe, due to

5395-466: The season at such a late stage, so Nakajima was left with no drive in Formula One for 2010. After a successful test in late 2010, Nakajima moved back to the Japanese racing scene by competing in Formula Nippon for 2011 . Driving for the TOM'S team, he won his first race at the second round of the season, held at Autopolis , which also moved him into the lead of the drivers' standings. He ultimately finished runner-up to André Lotterer . He continued in

5478-422: The series for the 2012 season winning the title. In the 2013 season he could not defend his Super Formula title finishing 4th overall. However, in the 2014 season he regained the title with his Petronas Team TOM'S team. In the 2015 season he ended up 2nd overall. His younger brother, Daisuke , competed in the series until 2017. Nakajima first competed in the Japanese Super GT series in 2005 , driving

5561-471: The slight opening of the Japanese auto market to foreign companies. In an effort to strengthen Japan's auto industry ahead of the market opening, Toyota purchased stakes in other Japanese automakers. That included a stake in Hino Motors , a manufacturer of large commercial trucks, buses and diesel engines, along with a 16.8 percent stake in Daihatsu , a manufacturer of kei cars , the smallest highway-legal passenger vehicles sold in Japan. That began what became

5644-499: The success of Toyota Team Europe in motorsport, the corporation decided to set up Toyota Motor Europe Marketing and Engineering, TMME , 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. Toyota also increased its ownership of Daihatsu during this period. In 1995, Toyota increased its shareholding in

5727-404: The trip, along with what the company learned making looms, gave rise to The Toyota Way (a management philosophy) and the Toyota Production System (a lean manufacturing practice) that transformed the company into a leader in the manufacturing industry. Toyota started developing its first full-fledged passenger car, the Toyopet Crown , in 1952. Prior to the Crown, Toyota had been outsourcing

5810-404: The wheel. Various teams attempted to purchase the Toyota TF110 chassis for use in Formula One. The first attempt at using the car came from Serbian-based outfit Stefan GP . The team, led by Zoran Stefanović bought into the old Toyota F1 project for their technical knowledge. The team had hoped to purchase the TF110s to use in the 2010 season. One of the TF110s was painted red, and fired up for

5893-446: The year 2005. Also in 2005, Fujio Cho would shift to become chairman of Toyota and would be replaced as president by Katsuaki Watanabe . In 2007, Toyota released an update of its full-sized truck, the Tundra, produced in two American factories, one in Texas and one in Indiana. Motor Trend named the 2007 Toyota Camry "Car of the Year" for 2007. It also began the construction of two new factories, one in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada, and

5976-540: The year as top rookie. Nakajima's fifth in the championship put him comfortably ahead of Lapierre. Nakajima was found to have caused a collision in Istanbul, when he hit leader Karun Chandhok during the sprint race, and was given a drive-through penalty. It was announced on 9 October 2007 that following the retirement of Alexander Wurz , Nakajima would race for Williams in the season finale in Brazil . Nakajima finished tenth in

6059-525: The year strongly with second place in the first race and a win in round four, Nakajima finished seventh with 36 points, behind his Manor Motorsport teammates Kohei Hirate (third) and Esteban Guerrieri (fourth). The championship was won by di Resta with 86 points. In November 2006, Nakajima was named a Williams test driver for the 2007 season , alongside fellow test driver Narain Karthikeyan and race drivers Nico Rosberg and Alexander Wurz , targeting

6142-416: The years after, consumers started demanding high-quality and fuel-efficient small cars. Domestic automakers, in the midst of their malaise era , struggled to build these cars profitably, but foreign automakers like Toyota were well positioned. This, along with growing anti-Japanese sentiment , prompted the U.S. Congress to consider import restrictions to protect the domestic auto industry. The 1960s also saw

6225-460: Was a good first race for me but it was slightly overshadowed." Patrick Head commented: "Kazuki drove well on his debut. His lap times were impressive and he's set a marker for a future in Formula One. Some of our mechanics were injured today, they're having some checks done now and we send our best wishes to them." On 7 November it was confirmed by Williams that Nakajima would partner Rosberg at

6308-502: Was bombed by the Allied forces . After the surrender, the U.S.-led occupying forces banned passenger car production in Japan. However, automakers like Toyota were allowed to begin building trucks for civilian use, in an effort to rebuild the nation's infrastructure. The U.S. military also contracted with Toyota to repair its vehicles. By 1947, there was an emerging global Cold War between

6391-554: Was born on 11 January 1985 in Okazaki, Aichi , Japan. Nakajima is the son of the retired Formula One driver Satoru Nakajima . His younger brother, Daisuke , is also a racing driver. Nakajima started his career in racing in 1996, when he started karting . Three years later, he was crowned the Suzuka Formula ICA karting champion. After some impressive performances, Nakajima was picked up by Japanese car manufacturer Toyota as part of

6474-581: Was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance. ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed. ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Toyota Motor Corporation Toyota Motor Corporation ( Japanese : トヨタ自動車株式会社 , Hepburn : Toyota Jidōsha kabushikigaisha , IPA: [toꜜjota] , English: / t ɔɪ ˈ j oʊ t ə / , commonly known as simply Toyota )

6557-460: Was completed in May. In July, the company filled its first export order, with four G1 trucks exported to northeastern China. On September 19, 1936, the Japanese imperial government officially designated Toyota Automatic Loom Works as an automotive manufacturer. Vehicles were originally sold under the name "Toyoda" (トヨダ), from the family name of the company's founder, Kiichirō Toyoda . In September 1936,

6640-559: Was great speculation that the Italian manufacturer would purchase an old or unraced F1 car to allow for some testing ahead of the official F1 test window. They had been initially linked with purchasing an old BMW Sauber chassis, but were later linked with Toyota and using the TF110. The idea was that using the Toyota would mean no team gained an unfair data advantage. Pirelli decided to use the 2009 Toyota TF109 for their testing with Nick Heidfeld at

6723-487: Was once again in contention for points until being taken out by rookie and fellow countryman Kamui Kobayashi . Nakajima finished the season having scored no points, with his teammate Nico Rosberg being single-handedly responsible for every championship point scored by the Williams team, with Nakajima being the only non points scorer out of the drivers who took part in each race in 2009. Williams signed Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hülkenberg for 2010, leaving Nakajima without

6806-432: Was praised for being a leader in the development and sales of more fuel-efficient hybrid electric vehicles , starting with the introduction of the original Toyota Prius in 1997. The company now sells more than 40 hybrid vehicle models around the world. More recently, the company has also been criticized for being slow to adopt all-electric vehicles , instead focusing on the development of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles , like

6889-531: Was redesigned specifically for the American market with a more powerful engine. The Corona helped increase U.S. sales of Toyota vehicles to more than 20,000 units in 1966 (a threefold increase) and helped the company become the third-best-selling import brand in the United States by 1967. Toyota's first manufacturing investment in the United States came in 1972 when the company struck a deal with Atlas Fabricators, to produce truck beds in Long Beach, in an effort to avoid

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