Toyota
Toyota Motor Corporation, the first automobile manufacturer to produce more than 10 million vehicles per year, was the world’s largest in 2012. As of November 2013, Toyota was the largest Japanese company by market capitalization and revenue.
Toyota started in 1933 as a division of Toyoda Automatic Loom Works dedicated to the production of automobiles. It became an independent company in 1937. Toyota entered the American market in 1957 with the chrome-laden Toyopet praised as rugged and durable but overpriced, underpowered, and lacking in comfort. After poor sales of 287 Toyopets over two years, Toyota halted passenger car exports to the USA altogether in December 1960 and set about designing a new car better suited for the American market.
In 1965 Toyota introduced the entirely redesigned Toyopet as the Corona. This first design for American motorists had armrests, sun visors, tinted glass, carpets, glove compartments, wheel covers, and whitewall tires. The six-passenger car could reach 90 miles per hour with comfort. Annual sales reached 6,400 in 1965, 71,000 in 1968, and nearly doubled annually until in 1971 Toyota sold over 300,000 vehicles.
The famous but rare (only a few hundred produced) Toyota 2000 GT of the 1960s had a dual overhead-camshaft, six-cylinder, 2,000-cubic centimeter, 150-horsepower engine and a five-speed manual transmission. The 1967 film You Only Live Twice featured a special convertible version. The 2000 GT had an unimpressive 0 to 60 acceleration time of 10+ seconds, not exactly robust but with better handling than any of Detroit’s best.
The Toyota Corolla, introduced in 1966, became the best-selling car in the world by 1974 and has been one of the best sellers since as it remains in high-volume production. In 1997, the Corolla surpassed the Volkswagen Beetle as the best-selling brand ever in the world. From its introduction through 2013, Toyota sold 40 million Corollas in eleven versions with several major redesigns. Early models were mostly rear-wheel drive, late models front-wheel.
Launching in the USA in 1971, the Celica had independent front suspension, light weight, and a four-cylinder engine with good gas mileage, acceleration, and cornering. The first Celica in the USA had a traditional front-engine, rear-drive layout. The Celica combined a good ride and good traction, but understeer and the lack of power steering could be problems. In 1986, the Celica changed to front-wheel drive, power steering and bucket seats made the Celica more fun to drive, and leather was available for all who wanted it. All models but the GT-S hatch offered a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic. The Celica remained in production until 2004 over seven generations.
The Toyota Camry first sold in the USA in 1983 as a replacement for the Corona and went on to become America’s best-selling car. Its four-cylinder engine, which made a high-pitched sound when revved, produced 92 horsepower, more than enough for the car’s weight. All Camrys were front-wheel or all-wheel drive from 1988 on. The Camry’s comfort, gas mileage, and reliability soon made it a big seller. The 1987 redesign improved the engine to 115 horsepower with four-valve cylinder heads and dual-overhead camshafts. In Georgetown, Kentucky, Toyota built a huge factory that eventually produced three quarters of all Camrys sold and since 1994 has produced the Avalon, Toyota’s flagship full-size luxury sedan.
In 1988, Toyota started a three-year, 36,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty, and the first Toyota-owned American factory for Camrys in Kentucky to join the Factory for Corollas in California. In 1999, Toyota Motor Corporation started listing its shares on the New York Stock Exchange.
Today, Toyota is the world’s largest manufacturer of automobiles. In the USA, Toyota has roughly twice as many sales as has Honda and battles General Motors and Ford for the number-one position. It produces more than 5.5 million vehicles annually, mathematically equivalent to one every six seconds.
