Toyotas are known for their reliability, build quality, fair pricing, and engineering. For decades now Toyota has been selling more passenger cars than any other manufacturer. But quantity is always accompanied by quality with Toyota, and that is what makes them great. This MyTake will discuss what makes Toyota great, its history, and their successes.
THE TOYOTA WAY
Toyota is driven by two essential principles. The first being continuous improvement, the second being respect for people. Because of this philosophy Toyota spent a great deal of time making sure their employees felt respected and by doing so, would work hard to make the company improve. To Toyota its all about the right human process, you treat people with respect, they treat their job with respect and the cars they manufacture will be done the right way. Toyota understands that its true value doesn't come from what it produces, but who works there. Finally the Toyota way asks that its employees look for problems and encourages them to solve them. This embodies Toyota's quest for continuous improvement.
A Brief History
The Toyota brand has its origins in the textile industry. It was highly successful, and the son of the original Textile Loom manufacturer decided to branch out. Kiichiro Toyoda traveled to the USA in the early 1930's to learn more about engines and automobiles. Upon returning to Japan, the government encouraged them to produce automobiles to support their war-efforts in China. Toyota didn't start producing passenger cars until the post WW2 era. The business was in jeopardy following the Second World War and it seemed like Toyota as an auto-manufacture would go out of business. That was until once again, the company would benefit from war. The United Sates ordered around 5,000 trucks, to be produced in Japan, to aid in the Korean war. This allowed Toyota to recover and expand its business internationally. By the 1960[s Toyota was selling cars in the Americas, Australia, and In Europe. Ever since then, they have produced some of the greatest passenger cars ever. The evolution on various models shows the Toyota Way and its brilliance.
Motor-Sports: Toyota's Race Cars have won at almost every level, from endurance racing, rally championships or formula 1. Toyota has accomplished and changed the world of Motor Sports. Toyota and its Celica GT4- WRC rally car have won over 30 WRC races.The Toyota Team also placed first at the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1999 with their GT1 Race Car. They also Managed to place 1st in the 2018 24 hours of Le Mans with their Hybrid Race Car. The Toyota Camry Stock Car also competes within NASCAR.
Toyota Hilux
Toyota's history is intimately tied to war, which is unfortunate, but its because they make excellent reliable products. The Toyota War between Chad and Libya, was named after the reliable trucks used in that war. Namely the Hilux Pick-up. This pick up can handle almost anything, and its engine is extremely reliable. What started off as a small reliable pick-up truck has turned into a vehicle soldiers depended on for their lives.
Toyota Corolla
The best selling car in history, it made its reputation for being fuel-efficient, easy to maintain, reliable, and practical during the 60's and continues to sell hundreds of thousands of units yearly. Since its inception in 1966 it has sold 43million+ units world wide.
Toyota Celica
Toyota needed a car to compete against the popular American Pony cars, such as the Mustang and Camaro. Toyota's answer was the Celica. It arrived in the USA in 1971 and initially got off to a slow start. But quickly became popular due to the fuel crisis of the 70's. It was also significantly cheaper than its competitors and offered better fuel economy. Not only that but its one of the earliest cars to be manufactured on a partially automated assembly line. Which gave it better build quality than its competitors. The Celica would evolve over time, becoming incrementally more powerful and larger. The Celica also achieved great success as a race car winning over 30 races in the WRC(World Rally Championships). Proving that Toyota could also make successful race cars, not only passenger cars.
Toyota Supra
The Toyota Supra is a legend in car culture. Initially the Supra was created from the Celica, it was simply a larger version. However Toyota saw the opportunity to create a new Line of vehicles and the Supra was born. The Supra initially had the same engine as the Celica, albeit with a larger displacement and larger fuel injectors. But incrementally more and more changes were done to the engine and eventually Toyota manufactured a performance engine for the Supra known as the 2JZ. The 2JZ was an over-engineered masterpiece. It could handle insane amounts of power and became popular among Sports car enthusiasts and tuners. The Supra also was one of the Hero Cars, in the original Fast and Furious, which added to its allure.
Toyota MR-2
In the late 1979, A Toyota Employee, Akio Yoshida proposed a design for a mid-engine car. At the time this layout wasn't common for high-production models, and was only seen in Exotic cars like Ferrari's and Lamborghini's. Toyota Produced the MR-2 with this engine lay-out at an affordable price and in the 1980's it was a hit. Incrementally they improved on the design, and it was compared to much more expensive and faster cars. The 2nd generation of the car was so fast it managed to out-pace a Ferrari 348 in a quarter mile. It managed to do this by introducing a turbo-charger and increasing the displacement(size) of its engine. It was even faster in the quarter mile than Toyota's Flagship model the Supra. Not only that, but the MR-2 in 1994 was about one-third the price of a Ferrari 348.
Lexus
In the 80's Toyota was so successful in the US market American car manufacturers asked President Reagan to help impose tariffs on Japanese cars. Now Japanese car manufacturers were limited into how many cars they could export to the USA. Toyota needed a strategy to sell cars at a higher price to maximize revenues. A group of engineers, Toyota marketing directors, and executives came up with the Idea to start a luxury brand, that could rival Mercedes, while being more affordable and better made. In 1991, Toyota unveiled the Lexus Brand and the Lexus LS400. The Lexus LS400 was revolutionary. It destroyed its competitors in build quality, reliability, price, and luxury. It managed to outsell both BMW and Mercedes in its first model year, prompting Mercedes to reduce the price of its cars by an average of $10,000 dollars. BMW even accused Toyota of selling its cars at a loss. Cadillac bought a Lexus LS400 and reverse engineered it to see how it could produce better cars, but they concluded that they were unable to produce a car of the same quality at the LS400's price point.
Are You Convinced?Toyota continues to be the best selling auto-manufacturer in the world. It has a long history of producing amazing cars at fair prices. It also has achieved success in motor-sports and its vehicles have helped in various war efforts. Toyota and its products are powered by its Employees and their shared philosophy. Whether its Building reliable commuter cars, hardy trucks, luxury sedans or race cars, Toyota strives for excellence by using the best means possible, and at the end, its accomplished the goals it has set.
Not Convinced?
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