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71-515: Several of Toyota Motor Corporation 's manufacturing plants, including the Tsutsumi plant, are located there. The longstanding ties between the Toyota Motor Corporation and the town of Toyota, formerly known as Koromo ( 挙母市 , Koromo-shi ) , gave the town its current name. The city's flag (and seal), is a unicursal hexagram . Toyota is located in north-central Aichi Prefecture, and is

142-549: A feudal han under the Tokugawa shogunate ; however, most of the area of the current city was tenryō territory controlled directly by the government in Edo and administered through hatamoto class appointed administrators. The village of "Matsudaira", from which Tokugawa Ieyasu took his clan name, was located within what is now the city of Toyota. After the Meiji restoration , the area

213-513: A mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 45 members. The city contributes five members to the Aichi Prefectural Assembly . In terms of national politics, the city is divided between Aichi District 11 and Aichi District 14 of the lower house of the Diet of Japan . Toyota is twinned with: The main headquarters of Toyota

284-855: 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

355-471: 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

426-564: A continuous record of artifacts from the Japanese paleolithic period onwards. In early proto-historic times, the area was under the control of the Mononobe clan , who built numerous kofun burial mounds. The local place name " Koromo " is mentioned in the Kojiki and other early Japanese documents. During the Edo period , parts of the area of the current city were under the control of Koromo Domain ,

497-514: 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

568-760: 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

639-583: 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

710-672: 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

781-502: 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

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852-510: 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

923-488: 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

994-590: Is 15.3 °C (59.5 °F). The average annual rainfall is 1,470.4 mm (57.89 in) with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 27.4 °C (81.3 °F), and lowest in January, at around 3.6 °C (38.5 °F). Per Japanese census data, the population of Toyota has been increasing over the past 50 years. The area of present-day Toyota City has been inhabited since prehistoric times, and archaeologists have found

1065-495: 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

1136-502: Is located in a 14-story building in Toyota. As of 2006 the head office has the "Toyopet" Toyota logo and the words "Toyota Motor". The Toyota Technical Center, a 14-story building, and the original Honsha plant, Toyota's first plant engaging in mass production and formerly named the Koromo plant, are adjacent to one another in a location near the headquarters. Vinod Jacob from The Hindu described

1207-761: 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

1278-565: 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

1349-595: 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

1420-761: 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

1491-573: 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

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1562-413: 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

1633-766: 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

1704-563: 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

1775-590: 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

1846-481: 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

1917-414: 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

1988-508: 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

2059-560: 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

2130-514: 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

2201-485: 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

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2272-529: 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,

2343-475: 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

2414-545: 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

2485-470: 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

2556-453: 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,

2627-461: 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

2698-537: 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

2769-417: 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

2840-538: 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

2911-454: 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

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2982-711: 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

3053-556: 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

3124-715: The disabled. Toyota, as the home city of Toyota Motor Corporation is well-served by expressways and national highways. However, it was the largest city in Japan which was not served by the Japanese National Railways (JNR) during its existence. The closest Shinkansen station is Mikawa-Anjō Station in the city of Anjō , although the limited-stop Nozomi and Hikari services do not stop there. Toyota 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 )

3195-653: 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

3266-434: 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

3337-420: The fame and economic importance of its major employer, the city of Koromo ( 挙母市 ) changed its name to Toyota on January 1, 1959. Toyota became a sister city with Detroit , Michigan , United States in 1960. It continued to expand by annexing the towns of Kamigo (Hekikai District) on March 1, 1964, and Takaoka (Hekikai District) on September 1, 1965, and Sanage (Nishikamo District) on April 1, 1967, as well as

3408-517: The family's automatic loom manufacturing business. The search led to the founding of what became the Toyota Motor Corporation . Toyota built the first manufacturing facility, known as Toyota Honsha plant in November 1938, breaking ground in December 1935. On March 1, 1951, Koromo gained city status, and absorbed the village of Takahashi from Nishikamo District on September 30, 1956. Due to

3479-405: The first half of 2014, selling 5.1 million vehicles in the six months ending June 30, 2014, an increase of 3.8% on the same period the previous year. Volkswagen AG , which recorded sales of 5.07 million vehicles, was close behind. Core cities of Japan A core city ( 中核市 , Chūkakushi ) is a class or category of Japanese cities . It is a local administrative division created by

3550-523: 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;

3621-420: 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

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3692-611: The largest city in the prefecture in terms of area. The city area is mountainous to the north, with peaks averaging around 1000 feet (328 m) in height along its northern border with Nagano and Gifu Prefectures. Much of the mountainous northern portion of the city is within the Aichi Kōgen Quasi-National Park . Toyota is within a two-hour drive of Nagoya . The city has a climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and relatively mild winters ( Köppen climate classification , Cfa ). The average annual temperature in Toyota

3763-630: 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

3834-585: The main headquarters building as "modest". In 2013 company head Akio Toyoda reported that it had difficulties retaining foreign employees at the headquarters due to the lack of amenities in Toyota. Toyota has 78 public elementary schools and 27 public middle schools operated by the city government and 12 public high schools operated by the Aichi Prefectural Board of Education. There are also two private middle schools and eight private high schools. The prefecture also operates two special education schools for

3905-433: The national government. Core cities are delegated many functions normally carried out by prefectural governments , but not as many as designated cities . To become a candidate for core city status, a city must have a population greater than 300,000 and an area greater than 100 square kilometers, although special exceptions may be made by order of the cabinet for cities with populations under 300,000 but over 200,000. After

3976-509: 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

4047-507: 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

4118-405: 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

4189-433: 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

4260-471: 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

4331-499: 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

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4402-435: The town of Fujioka , and the village of Obara (both from Nishikamo District ), the towns of Asuke , Asahi and Inabu , and the village of Shimoyama (all from Higashikamo District ) to create the new and expanded city of Toyota. Mitsuru Obe and Eric Pfanner of The Wall Street Journal stated that by 2015 Toyota was recovering from an economic depression "so deep that some were comparing it to Detroit ." Toyota has

4473-404: 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

4544-541: The village of Matsudaira (Higashikamo District) on April 1, 1970. In 1979 the Nagoya Railroad (Meitetsu) opened the Toyota New Line (now Toyota Line ), and in 1988: The Aichi Loop Line was opened, thus considerably improving access to the city via rail transport. Toyota became a Core City in 1998, with increased local autonomy. On March 25, 2005, Expo 2005 opened with its main site in Nagakute and additional activity in Seto and Toyota. The Expo continued until September 25, 2005. On April 1, 2005, Toyota absorbed

4615-446: 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

4686-416: 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

4757-406: 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

4828-414: 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,

4899-501: Was organized into the towns of Asuke and Koromo and numerous villages under Higashikamo District and Nishikamo District with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. The area was a major producer of silk and prospered from the Meiji period through the Taishō periods . As the demand for raw silk declined in Japan and abroad, Koromo entered a period of gradual decline after 1930. The decline encouraged Kiichiro Toyoda , cousin of Eiji Toyoda , to look for alternatives to

4970-432: 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

5041-478: 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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