Toyota

Lore & Background

Toyota was founded as a spinoff of Toyota Industries, a machine maker started by Sakichi Toyoda. The company developed its first product, the Type A engine, in 1934 and its first passenger car in 1936, the Toyota AA. 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. Toyota was the world's first automobile manufacturer to produce more than 10 million vehicles per year, a record set in 2012. By September 2023, total production reached 300 million vehicles.

In Their Own Story

The rain lashed down on the Mulsanne Straight at dawn, blurring the headlights into ghostly streaks. Inside the cockpit of the #8 GR010 Hybrid, Kazuki Nakajima gripped the wheel, his eyes fixed on the wet tarmac while the engine's hybrid unit hummed with electric intensity. The car had survived a chaotic night of safety cars and mechanical battles against Porsche; now, only the final hour remained. As they crossed the line for the 24th time, the roar of the crowd at the grandstands was drowned out by the silence in his head—the silence of a dream finally realized after twenty years of trying.

Reader's Guide

Toyota produces vehicles under four brands: Century, Daihatsu, Lexus and the namesake Toyota. The company also holds stakes in Subaru Corporation, Mazda, Suzuki, Isuzu, and Yamaha Motor Corporation, as well as stakes in joint-ventures in China, the Czech Republic, India, and the United States. Toyota is listed on the London Stock Exchange, Nagoya Stock Exchange, New York Stock Exchange, and on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Did You Know?

• Toyota was the world's first automobile manufacturer to produce more than 10 million vehicles per year, a record set in 2012.
• Toyota developed the original Toyota Prius in 1997, a leader in hybrid electric vehicles.
• The company's founding date is celebrated every November 3, to coincide with the inauguration of the Koromo Plant on November 3, 1938.