Mergers and acquisitions

In 1966, Toyota acquired Hino, which built trucks; commercial trucks from Toyota still carry the Hino name. Hino is currently gaining in popularity in Europe, and is the sales leader for medium and heavy-duty diesel trucks in Japan. After building its first truck as far back as 1913 (when it was part of Tokyo Gas), what had been the truck division of Tokyo Gas (and which was now called Diesel Motor Industry Company) split off its commercial truck and diesel engine division into Hino; the remaining part of the company would become Isuzu. Hino did build standard cars for a time, using designs licensed from Renault, but stopped in 1967 to concentrate on heavy trucks (and avoid competing with the rest of Toyota). Hino currently makes a wide variety of heavy trucks and buses, and was involved in designing and/or producing the Tacoma, T100, 4Runner (HiLux Surf), Sequoia, and Tundra.

In 1967, Toyota took control of Daihatsu (founded in 1907 as Hatsudoki Seizo Co., Ltd), but Toyota did not actually buy the whole company until 1999. Daihatsu sold cars in the US from 1988 to 1992, with their Charade and Rocky making almost no impact; when Toyota bought into the company, it made a three-wheeled car and military four-wheel-drive vehicles. Daihatsu sold vehicles based on Toyotas, along, possibly, with its own designs; their small cars and four wheel drive vehicles have a following. Daihatsu supplies vehicles and major components to other automakers, and appears to be popular in South America.

Denso was not acquired, but was simply spun off of Toyota after World War II; it was once Toyota’s electrical component division. It currently is a roughly $26 billion business with over 100,000 employees and over 170 subsidiaries, selling parts to many major automakers including American companies.
Toyota Motor Corporation today

In April 2002, Toyota adopted the 2010 Global Vision, a vision for meeting mobility needs in a way that respects our earth and all people. It is made of long-term policies centered on the basic theme of 'innovation into the future.' Four key themes based on trends seen as developing from 2020 to around 2030 are:

* Toward a recycle-oriented society
* Toward the age of IT and ubiquitous networks
* Toward a mature society (the decline of nationalism and war and the rise of respectful exchange of ideas)
* Toward motorization on a global scale (societies with little private transport gaining more)

These are linked to the pursuit of a new global image for Toyota with four key components: kind to the earth, comfort of life, excitement for the world, and respect for all people. The encompassing motto of "innovation into the future" is "working with passion and dedication to create a prosperous society."
Who runs Toyota now?

As of March 2007:

* Hiroshi Okuda, Chairman. Born in 1933 - about the same time as Toyota itself - Hiroshi Okuda has been a member of the Board of Toyota Motor Corporation since 1982, and has been the Chairman of the Board since 1999. Mr. Okuda was the president of Toyota from 1995 to 1999, and is also a director of KDDI Corporation. Hiroshi Okuda joined Toyota in 1955, at about the time of the company's entrance to the United States market. He mainly worked in Toyota's international operations, and oversaw preparation of manufacturing plants in North America. He graduated from Hitostubashi University with a degree in business, and has a black belt in judo.
* Fujio Cho, President. Born in 1937 - not long after Toyota itself - Fujio Cho helped to speed Toyota's decision-making but cutting the number of board members in half, appointing three non-Japanese managing officers, and generally streamlining the management structure. He graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1960 and became a production specialist, mentored by none other than Taiichi Ohno. He opened the first Toyota-owned factory in America in 1988. He is a third dan in kendo.
* It is worth noting the martial arts experience of the two top Toyota leaders. Martial arts require discipline, patience, and study; American leaders tend to be lawyers and accountants with experience in obfuscation and penny-watching.
* Akio Toyoda. Son of Shoichiro Toyoda, Akio, born in 1957, helped to get Toyota out of a Chinese joint venture gone bad and into a deal with China FAW Group; started a Web-based retailing venture in Japan; and is currently executive vice president in charge of purchasing, quality, product management, IT, and transport. Akio has been known to reinforce Toyota’s global standing, taking the company beyond its Japanese roots, and has been emphasizing styling and performance in the company’s vehicles.

Some past leaders:

* Eiji Toyoda (president, 1967-1982), who kept Toyota on a low profile even as the company rapidly expanded and dramatically increased its quality and its rustproofing capabilities
* Shoichiro Toyoda (president, 1982-1992), who spread Toyota's manufacturing plants through the world and brought Toyota’s technology to the forefront, surpassing Honda and just about every other automaekr, while increasing reliability even further

History of Toyota City

Toyota City sprung from Koromo Town, a thriving silkworm center in the late 1800s and early 1900s. As the demand for raw silk fell, the city declined, until in 1934 it invited the newly formed Toyota to center there. The name was changed from Koromo to Toyota in 1959. The population is now 25 times its 1930 level, at 350,000.
Toyota and the environment

Toyota is fairly well known for having the best-designed hybrid-electric car, the Prius, which former Chrysler engineer Evan Boberg claimed in 2004 was the only car that actually saved fuel because of its hybrid design rather than coincidental features (such as lighter weight, efficient tires, and such). But Toyota's commitment goes much further. Their Australian unit's Earth Charter notes four principles:

* Contribution towards a prosperous 21st century
o Aim for growth that is in harmony with the environment, and to challenge achievement of zero emissions throughout all areas of business activities and set as a challenge the achievement of zero emissions throughout all areas of business activity.
* Pursuit of environmental technologies
o Pursue all possible environmental technologies, developing and establishing new technologies to enable the environment and economy to coexist harmoniously.
* Voluntary actions
o Develop a voluntary improvement plan, not only based on thorough preventative measures and compliance laws, but one that addresses environmental issues on the global, national and regional scales, and promotes continuous implementation.
* Working in co-operation with society.
o Build close and cooperative relationships with a spectrum of individuals and organisations involved in environmental preservation including governments, local municipalities as well as with related companies and industries.

No environmental statement is meaningful unless it is actually followed - which is one reason why many are so angry at Ford, which made many brash promises, yet continued to push gas mileage downwards and fought even the slightest changes in Federal fuel economy requirements in the US. In Australia, and probably elsewhere in the world, Toyota has a balanced scorecard which notes specific outcomes and measures of environmental action, and uses a plan-do-check-act cycle to carry them out.