Toyota

Toyota

Toyota Motor Corporation is the largest Japanese automaker headquartered in Toyota. Engaged in the manufacture of cars, commercial and trucks, buses and auto components. Holds the title of the largest automotive company in the world in terms of sales.

The history of the Toyota auto company began in 1933 as a separate division of the large Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, which was engaged in the production of looms. Sakichi Toyoda, the founder of the company, was a talented engineer and inventor. He was the first in Japan to create his own automatic loom and continuously improved his creation. His company became successful in the Japanese market and famous all over the world.

In the early 1930s, Toyoda’s machine tools attracted the attention of the then largest textile manufactory in the world, the British firm Platt Brother & Co. Sakichi agreed to sell the patent rights to the machine, and his son Kiichiro went to the UK to complete the deal.

It is worth noting that the car – one of the main engineering inventions of that time – fascinated and occupied the mind of Sakichi Toyoda. Interest in cars was adopted by his son. However, having been in England, he literally “fell ill” with the idea of creating his own automobile production.

After earning £100,000 from the sale of patent rights, Kiichiro Toyoda founds a new division within his father’s company that focuses on car development. In 1937, it spun off into Toyota Motor Corporation.

The work of the new company was supported by the Japanese government, which needed army trucks for the war in Manchuria. Due to the depression, there was little money in the country. Domestic production lowered costs, provided jobs, and made the country more independent. By 1936, just after the first successful Toyota cars were built, Japanese authorities demanded that the majority of the shares of all automakers be owned by residents of the country, and also stopped almost all imports.

The car building operations were overseen by Kiichiro Toyoda. He began experimenting with two-cylinder engines, but ended up copying Chevrolet’s six-cylinder 65 hp engine. In addition, the brand copied the Chrysler Airflow chassis and gearbox.

The first engine was produced in 1934 (Type A), the first car and truck in 1935 (Model A1 and G1 respectively), and the second model that went into production in 1936 (Model AA).

The assembly of cars was established in the town of Koromo at new production facilities. The first Toyota passenger car was equipped with a 3389 cc engine. cm and drum brakes for each wheel. The four-door sedan, with conventional front and suicidal rear doors, received a flat one-piece windshield with a wiper at the top and a spare tire that was mounted on a nearly vertical rear window. The all-metal hull was state of the art for the time, as wood bodywork was predominantly used. From 1936 to 1943, 1,404 AA sedans were produced.

During World War II, Toyota completely abandoned the production of civilian cars. The automaker’s enterprises produced military trucks, amphibians, light reconnaissance all-terrain vehicles, and components for combat aircraft. At the same time, the assembly was carried out at an accelerated pace, often in a simplified version. For example, trucks were produced with one headlight.

After the surrender of Japan, Toyota Motor, like all companies supplying the army, found itself in an unenviable position. Despite the fact that the automaker’s factories suffered little from the bombing, a ban was imposed on the production of vehicles.

In December 1945, Toyota received permission from the United States military to start manufacturing consumer goods. Until 1947, the factories produced tools and pans.

However, Kiichiro Toyoda was not going to give up his passion: immediately after the end of the war, the brand’s designers began to develop a new model. Given the post-war decline, it was a small and economical model – a two-door sedan SA. It was equipped with a four-cylinder 1.0-liter engine with 27 hp. with a classic layout. Outwardly, Toyopet, as it was called, was similar to the Volkswagen Beetle. It accelerated to a maximum speed of 88 km / h, was cheap and undemanding.


Toyota SA (1947–1952)

In addition to SA, the Toyopet “family” included the more successful SD, the SF model, which made the brand truly popular, and the RH with a 48-horsepower engine. By 1955, Toyota was producing 8,400 cars a year, and by 1965, 600,000.

In addition to all these vehicles, Toyota began producing civilian trucks under the Land Cruiser name. They were developed following the example of jeeps. The first generation was based on a truck chassis with a load capacity of 1000 kg. It was the world’s first all-wheel drive passenger car with a six rather than a four-cylinder engine. In 1953, 298 off-road vehicles were produced, which mostly ended up in the services of the Ministry of Forestry and Agriculture of Japan, as well as the police reserve. In 1955, the second generation of the SUV was released.

In the early 1950s, Toyota introduced a set of manufacturing principles that helped it gain a reputation as an automaker of some of the best quality cars in the world. The Just-in-time principle allowed saving on costs and storage areas, making production as accurate as a clock.

Back in the company’s textile past, automatic looms would stop as soon as a broken thread was detected. The same principle has been introduced into car assembly production. Each worker monitored the quality of the parts and components used in his area. In the event of a marriage or breakdown, he pulled a special cord that stopped the conveyor belt. So all the shortcomings were identified at an early stage, and defective cars did not reach the market.

The next innovation was the system of encouraging the initiative and rationalization proposals of employees, which made it possible to significantly increase production efficiency and staff motivation. Successful proposals were implemented, and innovators received monetary rewards.

In 1955, the first luxury car Toyota Crown was released, which was powered by a four-cylinder 1.5-liter engine. In 1957, the company enters the American market, where it exports two models – the Land Cruiser BJ and the Crown sedan. In 1959, the company opened its first factory outside of Japan, in Brazil. Since then, Toyota has retained the philosophy of localization of both production and design of its products.

The company’s entry into the North American market was not as successful as expected. In the first year, only 288 cars were sold. They could not compete with American competitors either in appearance, or in dynamics, or in prestige. Sales President Shotaro Kamaya introduces new principles to the corporate philosophy: the customer comes first, not the car.

In the early 60s, gluttonous American cars with a huge engine were still at the peak of popularity. But the quiet, but not ceasing song of the small cars, which became the favorites of the next decade, was already heard. The Toyota Corona was one of the voices of the new automotive trend.

The car was presented in May 1957. It was equipped with a 33-horsepower engine and was reliable, inexpensive and economical, which made it quite popular against the backdrop of a birth boom.

In April 1958, the model received a facelift, which meant a change in the hood and door handles. At the rear, elements reminiscent of 1949 Ford sedans appeared. The engine was replaced with a 45-horsepower 997 cc, which accelerated the car to 105 km / h. Thanks to the monocoque body, the model weighed 1000 kg.

In 1962, Toyota produced the millionth car, and 10 years later, the total production of cars reached 10 million units. In the late 1960s, the Toyota Corolla became the best-selling car in the world. Later, this achievement will be listed in the Guinness Book of Records. As of December 2000, a total of 25 million units of the model were sold. By 2006, the total output amounted to 32 million tons.

The car was equipped with a rear-wheel drive system and a longitudinally located engine. This layout did not change until 1984, when the first front-wheel drive Corolla appeared. The first generation of the car was sold only in the domestic market. The second generation was characterized by more rounded body lines. It was represented by two models – Sprinter and Corolla, which differed in body sheet metal material and interior trim. A total of 11 generations of the model were released.

1967 saw the release of the legendary 2000 GT, a coupe sports car developed with Yamaha. It became a demonstration of the ability of the Japanese automaker to produce not only affordable small cars, but also status sports cars. In terms of dynamics, the 2000 GT was not inferior to the Porsche 911: acceleration to 100 km / h in 8.4 seconds, “maximum speed” – 220 km / h. It was equipped with an in-line six-cylinder engine with a volume of 2 liters and a power of 150 hp. There was no particular excitement around the model: only 351 units were produced in total. This was due largely to the high price of the machine. However, now it is a collector’s item, and even in those days it put the Japanese automaker on a par with the most venerable sharks from the auto world.

In the 1970s, at the height of the fuel crisis, Toyota was reaping the benefits of its far-sighted strategy in the American market. Its economical, cheap and high-quality models have left the clumsy American manufacturers far behind. In 1972, the brand sells one million cars a year in the US alone, and three years later, pushing Volkswagen, it becomes America’s most popular import brand.

As expected, in response to the growing popularity of the Japanese, the American government adopted protectionist measures. After increasing the tax on imported cars, Toyota, like other Japanese giants, began building its factories in the United States.

In the late 70s, the company faced financial difficulties, which forced it to introduce an austerity regime. In addition, after tightening environmental legislation, it developed a new efficient exhaust system and revised corporate policy principles.

In 1982, the Toyota Camry comes out, which is now in its seventh generation. Like most models of the brand, the first generation was produced for the domestic Japanese market, and then it entered the international arena. Having received positive feedback, the company was engaged in a phased improvement of the car and the introduction of its assembly in other countries. Camry is one of the best-selling Toyota models in Russia, which is assembled at the car factory in Shushary.


Toyota Camry (1982)

In 1990, Toyota begins to dilute its lineup, which consists mainly of compact models, with larger and more luxurious cars. The T100 pickup appears, and later the Tundra, several SUVs, a sports version of the Camry, as well as several sports and affordable cars aimed at young people.

In terms of technology, innovations such as a variable valve timing (VVT-i) engine, as well as a four-stroke gasoline engine with direct fuel injection (D-4) appear. Developments in hybrid technology are ongoing, resulting in the 1997 Prius, the world’s first mass-produced hybrid. This model is also notable for being listed by Forbes magazine as one of the ten cars that changed the world. And Time magazine included him in the ranking of the most influential people in the world, not at all caring that he was not a person.

The model is equipped with a gasoline engine and an electric motor-generator, as well as a capacious battery. The regenerative braking system can convert kinetic energy into electricity and recharge the battery. Power units controlled by the on-board computer can work together and separately. The drag coefficient is 0.26, and since 2009 – 0.25.

A characteristic feature of the model is the lack of idling of the engine, which turns off during short stops.

In 1998, Toyota Motor Corporation opened a Moscow representative office. Sales of the Japanese brand were impressive, and the Russian market was showing an upward trend, so the automaker decided to create a national marketing and sales company. Since April 2002, Toyota Motor LLC began to work.

Since 2007, CJSC Toyota Bank has been operating in Russia with a representative office in Moscow and St. Petersburg. He is engaged in issuing car loans for the population and official dealers of Toyota and Lexus.

On December 21, 2007, the Toyota plant was opened in the village of Shushary, not far from St. Petersburg. It is planned to increase the capacity of the car assembly plant to 200-300 thousand cars a year.

In 2011, Toyota was hit by a series of natural disasters that adversely affected its performance and sales. Earthquakes and tsunamis have disrupted supplies, stopped production and dropped exports. Severe flooding in Thailand has affected a local manufacturing base. Toyota lost about 150,000 vehicles in the tsunami and about 240,000 after the flood.

From November 2009 to 2010, the brand recalled more than 9 million cars and trucks worldwide, and temporarily stopped production and sales. Complaints related to unintentional acceleration of vehicles.

Now Toyota Motor Company produces a wide range of vehicles – from cars, crossovers and pickups to trucks and buses. In addition, it is developing in the field of creating vehicles with hybrid and electric transmission, as well as hydrogen fuel cells.