Toyota Japan

Became largest automobile manufacturer in the world for the first time in 2008
Most of its nearly 600 subsidiary companies are involved in the production of automobiles, automobile parts, and commercial and industrial vehicles
Toyota Motor Corporation began in 1933 as a division of the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, Ltd. (later Toyota Industries Corporation, now a subsidiary), a Japanese manufacturer founded by Toyoda Sakichi under the direction of the founder's son Kiichiro Toyoda
He had traveled to Europe and the United States in 1929 to investigate automobile production and had begun researching gasoline-powered engines in 1930
Toyoda Automatic Loom Works was encouraged to develop automobile production by the Japanese government, which needed domestic vehicle production, due to the war with China
Its first production car, the Model AA sedan, was released in 1936. The following year the division was incorporated as the Toyota Motor Company Ltd
Toyota subsequently established several related companies, including Toyoda Machine Works, Ltd. (1941), and Toyota Auto Body, Ltd. (1945)
Faced with wrecked facilities and a chaotic economy in the aftermath of World War II, the company was forced to temporarily suspend its automotive production
The company was on the brink of bankruptcy by the end of 1949, but the company eventually obtained a loan from a consortium of banks which stipulated an independent sales operation and elimination of "excess manpower"
After World War II, Japan experienced extreme economic difficulty. Commercial passenger car production started in 1947 with the model SA
In June 1950, the company produced only 300 trucks and was on the verge of going out of business
The management announced layoffs and wage reductions, and in response the union went on a strike that lasted two months
The strike was resolved by an agreement that included layoffs and pay reductions but also the resignation of the president at the time, Kiichiro Toyoda
Toyoda was succeeded by Taizo Ishida, who was the chief executive of the Toyoda Automatic Loom company
The first few months of the Korean War resulted in an order of over 5,000 vehicles from the US military, and the company was revived
By the 1950s Toyota’s automobile production factories were back in operation, and to gain competitiveness the company began a careful study of American automobile manufacturers, owing to perceived U.S. technical and economic superiority Toyota executives toured the production facilities of corporations, including the Ford Motor Company, to observe the latest automobile manufacturing technology and in turn implemented it in their own facilities, yielding nearly immediate increase in efficiency
In 1957, the Crown became the first Japanese car to be exported to the United States and Toyota's American and Brazilian divisions, Toyota Motor Sales Inc. and Toyota do Brasil S.A., were also established
It was poorly received because of its high price and lack of horsepower
The Land Cruiser, a 4 × 4 utility vehicle released in 1958, was more successful
The first Toyota built outside Japan was in April 1963, at Melbourne, Australia From 1963 until 1965, Australia was Toyota's biggest export market In 1965 the Toyo pet, completely redesigned for American drivers, was re-released as the Toyota Corona, marking the company’s first major success in the United States
By the end of the decade, Toyota had established a worldwide presence, as the company had exported its one-millionth unit
During the 1960s and ’70s the company expanded at a rapid rate and began exporting large numbers of automobiles to foreign markets Toyota acquired such companies as Hino Motors, Ltd. (1966), a manufacturer of buses and large trucks; Nippondenso Company, Ltd., a maker of electrical auto components; and Daihitsu Motor Company, Ltd. (1967)
For several decades Toyota was Japan’s largest automobile manufacturer
The company continued to thrive in the American market as