a) Historical Background
TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (NYSE: TM) is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. It was founded in Japan on August 28, 1937. The company originally produced small cars and light trucks for consumption in Japan and for exports to other countries. The first Toyota retail dealership was opened on October 31, 1957 in Hollywood, CA.
In 1980 a heavy United States import tax on vehicles forced Toyota to open a plant in America in order to remain competitive. In 1982 the production and sales divisions of Toyota merged to form Toyota Motor Corporation.
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In 1990 Toyota started to produce new types of vehicles, such as luxury cars, full sized pick-up trucks, and sports utility vehicles, in an effort to broaden the product mix farther beyond. Toyota went public in 1999. Since then, the company has created a broad range of new products, delved into robotics, and had two vehicles named car by “Motor Trend”.
Today’s Toyota
The recent President of Toyota Motor Corporation is Akio Toyoda and its Chairman is Fujio Cho. In 2012, Toyota employed 325,905 people worldwide and was the third-largest automobile manufacturer by production behind General Motor and Volkswagen Group. Toyota is the 11th largest company in the world by revenue. On July, the company reported it had manufactured its 200-millionth vehicle.
Toyota mainly focuses in the automobile business as well as the financial business. Toyota sells its vehicles in approximately 170 countries and regions and its primary markets for its automobiles are Japan, North America, Europe and Asia. Today, Toyota has 7 factories in the United States, 15 in Japan (12 of which are in Toyota City), and factories in 13 other countries around the world. Toyota is well known for its small cars and SUVs but it is an industry leader in manufacturing techniques and has been a pioneer since its inception.