The History and Business Strategy of Toyota
Toyota Motor Corporation has a long and significant history. The company can be considered a great example of the continuous business success, which could not have been achieved without an effective development strategy. The best proof of efficiency is the fact that as of 2017 Toyota is the leader in the global automotive industry (Mcnaughton). The paper focuses on the analysis of the history and key aspects of the business strategy of Toyota and presents the discussion in the paragraphs below.
Toyota was founded in 1933 by Kiichiro Toyoda with the paramount goal to produce the Japanese vehicles for the military purposes in Manchuria ("Toyota - History of the Car Company"). Before the establishment of the company, the Japanese government relied heavily on foreign trucks but in the course of the war in China, Japan faced a severe economic downturn that led to the impossibility to purchase foreign vehicles due to their high cost. Therefore, the Japanese government aimed to start the production of military trucks on the native territory in order to save costs, provide people with jobs, and, consequently, to decrease the impact of the economic downturn ("Toyota - History of the Car Company"). With the help of the Japanese government, in 1934, Toyota managed to create a famous engine Type A that was later used in A1 car and G1 truck in 1935 ("What’s the History of Toyota?"). After the success of these vehicles, the Japanese government almost stopped the import of cars and trucks and issued a decree that the number of Japanese investors in the national companies had to prevail over foreign ones. As a result, Toyota was transformed into Toyota Motor Corporation in 1936 and up to the end of WWII, it was the leader in Japanese automotive industry ("Toyota - History of the Car Company"). Despite the tensions between Japan and the USA after the WWII, Toyota managed to get the permission to start the production of civil vehicles in December 1945 that had a consequent effect on the company’s growth and development. For example, during the period from 1945 to 1955 Toyota’s annual production capacity was about 8400 vehicles but by 1965 the capacity increased up to 600 000 vehicles per year ("Toyota - History of the Car Company"). This significant growth was the key reason for the worldwide integration of Toyota.
Globalization of Toyota Motor Company started in 1956 when the company established a dealer chain and exported the first car to the USA in 1957 ("What’s the History of Toyota?"). During the sixties of the twentieth century, Toyota continued to grow and managed to acquire Hino (the manufacturer of trucks) in 1966 and took control of Daihatsu ("Toyota - History of the Car Company"). In the seventies and eighties of the twentieth century Toyota switched the focus to the luxury car segment and, as a result, the first Lexus LS400 appeared on the US market. Much like many other global …
