Toyota Case Study

Toyota is a great company that has been very successful over the past couple of decades. Toyota was founded in 1926 by Sakichi Toyoda, and in 2006, 8.5 million vehicles had been produced. Toyota has surpassed Ford and is on its way on surpassing General Motors. Toyota still has its challenges and that is what the SWOT and Porter’s Five Force Analysis will show (Hill, Jones p. c61-c72). Starting off with the SWOT Analysis for Toyota is strengths are that in 2005 Toyota’s factories in the US and China saw profits rise. The net profits rose .8% to $11 billion. This is because the company has the right mix of products for the market that it is in. In 2003, Toyota moved ahead of Ford to become the world’s second largest carmaker (http://www.marketingteacher.com/SWOT/toyota_swot.htm). The weaknesses for Toyota are being able to figure out what customers want. Toyota has to take inconsideration the economy of the U.S., which is one of its biggest clients. The must figure out what people are going to want to buy in the sense of cars. Toyota must keep producing cars to stay in control of what they are doing. If the market goes down then it would be bad for Toyota to have a bunch of made cars sitting around. But, if the market is going well, then Toyota must have the right amount of cars so it can make sales and not lose money (http://www.marketingteacher.com/SWOT/toyota_swot.htm). The opportunities for Toyota are the new fuel efficient cars that they are producing. With the oil prices reaching record highs, Toyota has the advantage over other car manufactures with their more fuel efficient cars. This is one of their keys to success right now. Toyota is also producing cars that are targeted towards the younger generation of drivers. Much money can be made here also (http://www.marketingteacher.com/SWOT/toyota_swot.htm). The threats for Toyota are product recalls. In 2005, the company had to recall a significant number if SUV’s and pick up trucks.

Cited: Hill, Jones. Strategic Management. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2007. Pages C61 to C72. http://www.marketingteacher.com/SWOT/toyota_swot.htm http://www.hoovers.com/toyota/--ID__41889,period__A--/free-co-fin-income.xhtml