Toyota is a company that manufactures mainly automobiles that almost everyone knows. It is a Japanese multinational that has a history of 90 years and has factories and headquarters in various countries.

Throughout its years, it has set trends with technological innovations that positioned it as the second most important automobile manufacturing company in the world after Volkswagen, according to a 2019 report.

Toyota is also listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and the range of products it markets includes not only the manufacturing and sale of automobiles, but also vehicle maintenance in general and the new foray into robots.

The history of Toyota

The beginnings of Toyota date back to 1933, its founder Kiichiro Toyoda, an entrepreneurial Japanese loom manufacturer, started a parallel car production business with his son.

After manufacturing its first automobile models between 1934 and 1936, Toyota Motor Corporation established itself as an independent company.

 During the Second World War it focused on the manufacture of trucks for the Imperial Japanese Army.

Due to the tremendous shortage in Japan, the military trucks that were manufactured were visibly simple, but  They bombed the Toyota factories with a planned attack.

After the Second World War, automobile production resumed in 1947 with the launch of a new model, the SA. Then, in 1953, five units were exported to El Salvador, becoming the first country on the American continent to receive Toyota brand vehicles and the first expansion to the West of the Japanese multinational.

The following year, Toyota continued its chain of expansion to other countries such as Brazil and Thailand, and thanks to that, the United States was able to access the first vehicles.

In 1957, the American divisions of Toyota (Toyota Motor Sales) were created and also in the Brazilian market with Toyota de Brasil SA. The same year that its founder Kiichiro handed over the position to Eiji Toyoda, his nephew. Expansion continued throughout the 1970s. 

The model with the method  “just in time” development by Toyota is adopted by multiple businesses today

Toyota's just in time adopted a pull-type system, in which the movement of raw materials and the production of products is strictly adjusted to demand, it is produced based on consumer needs, instead of the push model conditioned on the prediction of demand.

The “just in time'' method allowed the company to reach production levels that no company had reached before in the automotive world. 

Just in time is the system used to organize production and consists of ensuring that both the materials necessary for production and the finished products arrive at their destination just when necessary, neither before nor after. A coordinated organization between organizations in different countries.

The so-called “Just in Time” system is a methodology created for the organization of production, its objective is to have only the necessary amount of product or raw material, at the right time and place, eliminating any waste or element that does not contribute to the system.

Developing the method in different organizations has shown that the model can be applied in other cultures and businesses in very varied areas. 

For example in fast food businesses, franchises, which have inherited the philosophy of just in time: you should only have what you need, when you need it.

The well-implemented method achieves progress in the production processes, generates multiple benefits, but each step must be controlled, if not implemented correctly, the method leads to different drawbacks: such as not having the products ready in stock, or missing parts when assembling the products. And this goes for cars, foods and other products made with this methodology.

Toyota and its expansion

In 1982 Toyota Motor Company and Toyota Motor Sales merged to form a single company renamed Toyota Motor Corporation. And he continues his expanding career to other countries.

Its objective was aimed at the European market, reaching France and the United Kingdom respectively. At the same time, the US market grew exponentially, opening different branches in cities such as California and New York.

In 2006, Toyota surpassed Ford in terms of total vehicle sales in the United States. In the first quarter of 2007, Toyota took first place from General Motors in the same market.

The recession crisis and Toyota's resilience

• During the Great Recession of 2008 that affected the United States, Toyota cut its production by 50% to reduce inventories and face declining sales in 2009.

 This was the beginning of a series of unfortunate events in Toyota's history that continued with the forced revision of 2.3 million cars in the United States for technical problems that accelerate the vehicles. However, it was later revealed that they were not production failures but rather misuse by the users themselves.

• With the earthquake and tsunami of 2011, the company really saw its continuity threatened, losing the supply chain in that catastrophe and producing the largest drop in production that the company suffered in its history. Consequently, Toyota lost the brand leadership as the largest manufacturer in the world that it had gained until now.

However, as a good resilient and prosperous company, Toyota managed to recover from the crisis in less than a year, so in 2012 it had already rebounded as a world leader in automobile production and sales.

Leadership based on constant innovation

Starting in 2018, the company began a kind of strategic alliance with the company Uber, which led it to invest 500 million dollars to jointly develop autonomous vehicles to launch them in the transportation service in the US.

The same year, Toyota presented its first prototype of an autonomous vehicle, where people do not need experience in driving cars, the design of these autonomous vehicles allows them to react to dangerous circumstances without the need for human intervention. 

One of the most significant and anticipated innovations in recent years is the launch of space exploration vehicles. In this context, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency signed an agreement with Toyota to jointly create the vehicles  space, prioritizing the colonization objectives of the Moon and Mars.

6 conclusive points about Toyota

• It has achieved a significant presence in a large number of countries that opened factories to produce its cars around the world. 

• He has demonstrated great mastery of business and the market.
• It has managed to perpetuate itself over time and maintain its leadership as one of the largest automobile brands in the world.

• It has overcome the war, the crisis of the 2008 recession and climate catastrophes.
• It has joined forces with other powerful companies to establish important and million-dollar businesses.
• It is collaborating to lead human beings to the conquest and expansion of outer space.

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