They produce their vehicles and target specific global regions, such as the Carina E for the European segment (Amherst). Toyota has traditionally also been the leader in Total Quality Management or TQM. The belief that no process could ever be declared perfect, and that therefore there was always room for improvement was introduced by Toyota Sakichi .This brought about the Japanese word, Kaizen meaning continuous improvement . By using the Kaizen theory of continuous improvement, Japan caught up the U.S. auto makers during the 1980's. Toyota has also introduced it's newest hybrid power car, Toyota Pirus, at the 2003 New York Auto Show and hit the dealerships in the fall of 2004 (Toyota). In September of 2003, orders for the new and improved Pirus totaled 17,500 which is five times more then the company target of 3000 (MSNBC). With the price of gasoline and oil ever rising, this is a great market for Toyota to exploit.
Toyota’s main competitors are Ford, Volkswagen, and Honda. Today, Toyota has passed the Ford Motor Company to become the world's second largest automaker in the world trailing only GM (Forbes). Toyota has also rounded out it's product line to suit the U.S. market with the redesigned passenger trucks and SUV, but they have also hit the market hard with eco-crazed society with the introduction of the second generation hybrid car, the Prius.
Toyota has doubled its market share in Europe in the past four years to 5.1 percent due to import restrictions being dropped in the 1990's. The opening up of imports in the European market is a great opportunity for Toyota because that enables them to put their