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73-577: In June 2001, Toyota introduced a BAS hybrid system under the Toyota Hybrid System-Mild (THS-M) brand name. It operates similarly to other mild hybrids with a start-stop system , in that it shuts down the engine as the vehicle comes to a stop and instantly restarts it when the brake pedal is released. THS-M is capable of modest power assist during launch acceleration and similarly modest levels of "blended" regenerative braking during deceleration. A 36-volt lead–acid battery (housed in

146-900: A 2.8% stake in Panasonic , as well as stakes in vehicle manufacturing joint-ventures in China ( FAW Toyota and GAC Toyota ), the Czech Republic ( TPCA ), India ( Toyota Kirloskar ) and the United States ( MTMUS ). Toyota is listed on the London Stock Exchange , Nagoya Stock Exchange , New York Stock Exchange and on the Tokyo Stock Exchange , where its stock is a component of the Nikkei 225 and TOPIX Core30 indices. In 1924, Sakichi Toyoda invented

219-475: A class below the Crown and Century and offered hardtop coupes and sedans. The Supra , Mark II , Cresta and Chaser offered several trim packages with different engine displacements to provide buyers with annual road tax advantages. At the same time, sports cars like Celica , Corolla Levin and Sprinter Trueno sold very well. Efforts to open a Toyota assembly plant in the United States started in 1980, with

292-629: A department of Toyota Industries, the company developed its first product, the Type A engine , in 1934 and its first passenger car in 1936, the Toyota AA . After World War II , Toyota benefited from Japan's alliance with the United States to learn from American automakers and other companies, which gave rise to The Toyota Way (a management philosophy) and the Toyota Production System (a lean manufacturing practice) that transformed

365-524: A drop in production and exports. Severe flooding during the 2011 monsoon season in Thailand affected Japanese automakers that had chosen Thailand as a production base. Toyota is estimated to have lost production of 150,000 units to the tsunami and production of 240,000 units to the floods. On February 10, 2014, it was announced that Toyota would cease manufacturing vehicles and engines in Australia by

438-785: A joint venture with local partner Astra International in 1971, and conducted significant retooling at the PT Gaya Motor assembly plant. The plant began assembling various models, including the Toyota Corona, Toyota Land Cruiser, large trucks, and the Toyota Corolla, with production surpassing 10,000 vehicles by 1973. For both countries, Toyota developed a basic utility vehicle (BUV) with the local partners to meet local needs and support technology transfers, in response to domestic production policies in Asia. The first prototype of

511-597: A long-standing partnership between Toyota and the two companies. After the successes of the 1970s, and the threats of import restrictions, Toyota started making additional investments in the North American market in the 1980s. In 1981, Japan agreed to voluntary export restraints , which limited the number of vehicles the nation would send to the United States each year, leading Toyota to establish assembly plants in North America. The U.S. government also closed

584-453: A more efficient final-drive ratio and includes an electrically driven pump to provide pressure in auto-stop mode. The air conditioning compressor continues to be operated through a belt-driven pulley, but for fuel economy improvement it can be disabled in auto-stop mode if the "ECO" A/C mode has been selected by the operator. Cobasys , which supplies the BAS system's battery pack, had to conduct

657-688: A production facility in Brazil, the company's first outside of Japan. Toyota entered the United States market in 1958, attempting to sell the Toyopet Crown. The company faced problems almost immediately. The company had to confront for the first time how its name sounded to native speakers of the English language; namely, "Toyota" has the English word " toy " in its first syllable. Toyota Motor Sales, USA 's first sales administrator James F. McGraw bluntly told his new Japanese supervisors after joining

730-473: A recall in 2008 due to apparent internal leakage of the battery modules. Citing supplier issues and slow sales, GM has relegated the 2010 model year BAS hybrids to "fleet only" status. At the LA Auto Show , on November 15, 2010, General Motors announced that it would be releasing an all-new version of the BAS system available in the 2012 Buick LaCrosse . While still a Belted Alternator Starter system,

803-511: A seat on the board of directors in 2000. Akio's promotion by the board marked the return of a member of the Toyoda family to the top leadership role for the first time since 1999. In 2011, Toyota, along with large parts of the Japanese automotive industry , suffered from a series of natural disasters. The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami led to a severe disruption of the supplier base and

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876-431: A specially modified GM 6T40 6-speed automatic FWD transaxle. A third generation was introduced in the 2016 Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra and can improve fuel efficiency by about 13%. This adds about 100 lb (45 kg) to the total weight of the truck but provides an additional 13 hp (10 kW) and 44 lb⋅ft (60 N⋅m). The eAssist system includes a modified GM 8L90 automatic transmission . It uses

949-524: A vehicle. At the same time, the Japanese government heavily invested in improving road infrastructure. To take advantage of the moment, Toyota and other automakers started offering affordable economy cars like the Toyota Corolla , which became the world's all-time best-selling automobile . Toyota also found success in the United States in 1965 with the Toyota Corona compact car, which

1022-488: A white Corolla, rolled off the line at NUMMI on October 7, 1986. Toyota received its first Japanese Quality Control Award at the start of the 1980s and began participating in a wide variety of motorsports . Conservative Toyota held on to rear-wheel-drive designs for longer than most; while a clear first in overall production they were only third in production of front-wheel-drive cars in 1983, behind Nissan and Honda. In part due to this, Nissan's Sunny managed to squeeze by

1095-519: Is 33  lb (15  kg ). The ZF 8HP became the new benchmark for automatic transmissions. The main objective in replacing the predecessor model was to improve vehicle fuel economy with extra speeds and a wider gear span to allow the engine speed level to be lowered (downspeeding). The layout brings the ability to shift in a non-sequential manner – going from gear 8 to gear 2 in extreme situations simply by changing one shift element (actuating break B and releasing clutch D). In order to increase

1168-408: Is a hydraulic (hydramatic) design. The 8L 45 is the smaller variant and was debuting in 2015 in the 2016 Cadillac CT6. It is designed for use in longitudinal engine applications attached to the front-located engine with a standard bell housing . It is a hydraulic (hydramatic) design sharing much with the 8L 90 transmission. Estimated weight savings over the heavier duty 8L 90

1241-416: Is cold as during initial start-up. Although unable to operate in pure all-electric EV mode, THS-M improves city and highway fuel efficiency over non-hybrid versions. According to Toyota, the system provides a 15% increase in fuel economy. The system is designed to be simple and easily adaptable across a wide range of vehicles, with no significant modifications required to the vehicle chassis to accommodate

1314-782: The T100 (and later the Tundra ), several lines of SUVs, a sport version of the Camry , known as the Camry Solara . They would also launch newer iterations of their sports cars, namely the MR2 , Celica , and Supra during this era. In Japan, Toyota continued to cater to the growing demand for mid-level luxury cars and offered several conventional and pillared hardtops sedans at its Japanese dealership network. The Soarer , Mark II , Cresta , Chaser , Corona EXiV , and Carina ED found many buyers. At

1387-636: The Tiara . After Kiichiro's death, his cousin Eiji Toyoda led the company for the two decades. Eiji helped establish the company's first plant independent from the Loom Works plant. At the start of the 1960s, the Japanese economy was booming, a period that came to be known as the Japanese economic miracle . As the economy grew, so did the income of everyday people, who now could afford to purchase

1460-874: The Toyota Mirai , a technology that is much costlier and has fallen far behind electric batteries in terms of adoption. As of 2024 , the Toyota Motor Corporation produces vehicles under four brands: Daihatsu , Hino , Lexus and the namesake Toyota. The company also holds a 20% stake in Subaru Corporation , a 5.1% stake in Mazda , a 4.9% stake in Suzuki , a 4.6% stake in Isuzu , a 3.8% stake in Yamaha Motor Corporation , and

1533-413: The 25% " chicken tax " on imported light trucks. By importing the truck as an incomplete chassis cab (the truck without a bed), the vehicle only faced a 4% tariff. Once in the United States, Atlas would build the truck beds and attach them to the trucks. The partnership was successful and two years later, Toyota purchased Atlas. In Southeast Asia, Toyota made efforts to establish domestic production in

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1606-858: The BUV was completed in January 1975. The BUV was launched as the Toyota Tamaraw in the Philippines in December 1976, and as the Toyota Kijang in June 1977. The vehicle was well received in both countries. The energy crisis of the 1970s was a major turning point in the American auto industry. Before the crisis, large and heavy vehicles with powerful but inefficient engines were common. But in

1679-579: The Camry sedan, Camry hybrid, Prius and the RAV4 during the launching event at the Grand Hyatt Seoul. Between 2009 and 2011, Toyota conducted recalls of millions of vehicles after reports that several drivers experienced unintended acceleration . The recalls were to prevent a front driver's side floor mat from sliding into the foot pedal well, causing the pedals to become trapped and to correct

1752-599: The Corolla in numbers built that year. Before the decade was out, Toyota introduced Lexus , a new division that was formed to market and service luxury vehicles in international markets. Prior to the debut of Lexus, Toyota's two existing flagship models, the Crown and Century , both catered exclusively for the Japanese market and had little global appeal that could compete with international luxury brands such as Mercedes-Benz , BMW and Jaguar . The company had been developing

1825-534: The Crown went on sale in August 1955. The car was met with positive reviews from around the world. After the introduction of the Crown, Toyota began aggressively expanding into the export market; the company entered Saudi Arabia for the first time in 1955 with Land Cruisers, following an agreement reached with Abdul Latif Jameel (founder of his company of the same name ); Toyota also brought Land Cruisers into neighboring Yemen in 1956. In 1958, Toyota established

1898-507: The EPA, the 2009 Saturn Vue BAS hybrid garners an improvement of 32% city (19>25mpg) and 24% highway (26>32mpg) making the combined economy improvement 27% (22>28mpg) over the base 4-cylinder FWD version. The system is reasonably simple and inexpensive, making BAS equipped vehicles some of the least expensive hybrids available. Vehicles with the BAS system use a conventional 4T45-E automatic transmission which has been modified to include

1971-414: The Philippines and Indonesia in early 1970s. In the Philippines, it partnered with local company Delta Motor Corporation . Toyota assisted Delta Motor with capital procurement and technology transfers. In 1973, Delta Motor commenced operations at a new plant, beginning local production of engine blocks for the Toyota Corona 12R engine and other parts. In Indonesia, Toyota established Toyota Astra Motor as

2044-516: The Prius. In 2001, Toyota acquired its long time partner, truck and bus manufacturer Hino Motors . In 2002, Toyota entered Formula One competition and established a manufacturing joint venture in France with French automakers Citroën and Peugeot . A youth-oriented marque for North America, Scion , was introduced in 2003. Toyota ranked eighth on Forbes 2000 list of the world's leading companies for

2117-572: The Soviet Union and the U.S., who had been allies in World War II. U.S. priorities shifted (the " Reverse Course ") from punishing and reforming Japan to ensuring internal political stability, rebuilding the economy, and, to an extent, remilitarizing Japan. Under these new policies, in 1949, Japanese automakers were allowed to resume passenger car production, but at the same time, a new economic stabilization program to control inflation plunged

2190-525: The Toyoda Model G Automatic loom . The principle of jidoka , which means the machine stops itself when a problem occurs, became later a part of the Toyota Production System . Looms were built on a small production line . In 1929, the patent for the automatic loom was sold to the British company Platt Brothers , generating the starting capital for automobile development. Under the direction of

2263-495: The Toyota Motor Company Ltd. Kiichiro's brother-in-law Rizaburo Toyoda was appointed the firm's first president, with Kiichiro as vice-president. Toyota Automatic Loom Works formally transferred automobile manufacturing to the new entity on September 29. The Japanese government supported the company by preventing foreign competitors Ford and General Motors from importing automobiles into Japan. At

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2336-544: The Toyota Production System. For Toyota, the factory gave the company its first manufacturing base in North America allowing it to avoid any future tariffs on imported vehicles and saw GM as a partner who could show them how to navigate the American labor environment. The plant would be led by Tatsuro Toyoda , the younger brother of company president Shoichiro Toyoda. The first Toyota assembled in America,

2409-475: The United States government over accusations that it had intentionally hid information about safety defects and had made deceptive statements to protect its brand image. Amid the unintended acceleration scandal, Katsuaki Watanabe stepped down as company president. He was replaced by Akio Toyoda , grandson of company founder Kiichiro Toyoda, on June 23, 2009. Akio had been with Toyota since 1984, working jobs in production, marketing and product development, and took

2482-555: The automotive industry into a serious shortage of funds, while many truck owners defaulted on their loans. Ultimately, the Bank of Japan , the central bank of the country, bailed out the company, with demands that the company institute reforms. As the 1950s began, Toyota emerged from its financial crisis a smaller company, closing factories and laying off workers. Meanwhile, the Korean War broke out, and being located so close to

2555-478: The battlefront, the U.S. Army placed an order for 1,000 trucks from Toyota. The order helped to rapidly improve the struggling company's business performance. In 1950, company executives, including Kiichiro's cousin Eiji Toyoda , took a trip to the United States where they trained at the Ford Motor Company and observed the operations of dozens of U.S. manufacturers. The knowledge they gained during

2628-457: The brand and vehicles in secret since August 1983, at a cost of over US$ 1 billion. The LS 400 flagship full-size sedan debuted in 1989 to strong sales, and was largely responsible for the successful launch of the Lexus marque. In the 1990s, Toyota began to branch out from producing mostly compact cars by adding many larger and more luxurious vehicles to its lineup, including a full-sized pickup,

2701-467: The company in 1959: "'Toy' sounds like a toy and toys break". The Crown was a flop in the U.S. market, with buyers finding it overpriced and underpowered (because it was designed for endurance on the bad roads of Japan, not high-speed performance on the good roads of America). In response, exports of the Crown to the United States were suspended in the early 1960s in favor of the Land Cruiser and

2774-546: The company proposing a joint-venture with the Ford Motor Company . Those talks broke down in July 1981. Eventually in 1984, the company struck a deal with General Motors (GM) to establish a joint-venture vehicle manufacturing plant called NUMMI (New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc.) in Fremont, California . GM saw the joint venture as a way to get access to a quality small car and an opportunity to learn about The Toyota Way and

2847-417: The company ran a public competition to design a new logo. Of 27,000 entries, the winning entry was the three Japanese katakana letters for "Toyoda" in a circle. However, Rizaburo Toyoda , who had married into the family and was not born with that name, preferred "Toyota" ( トヨタ ) because it took eight brush strokes (a lucky number) to write in Japanese, was visually simpler (leaving off the diacritic at

2920-543: The company their father had founded. In 1992, Shoichiro Toyoda would shift to become chairman, allowing his brother Tatsuro to become president, a job he held until his retirement in 1995. Shoichiro would step down as chairman in 1999. Both would retain honorary advisory roles in the company. Hiroshi Okuda would lead the company as president from 1995 until 1999 when he became chairman and the President's office would be filled by Fujio Cho . In August 2000, exports began of

2993-459: The company to 33.4 percent, giving Toyota the ability to veto shareholder resolutions at the annual meeting. In 1998, Toyota increased its holding in the company to 51.2 percent, becoming the majority shareholder. On September 29, 1999, the company decided to list itself on the New York and London Stock Exchanges . The later half of the 1990s would also see the Toyoda brothers step back from

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3066-730: The company's first truck, the G1 , was completed on August 25, 1935, and debuted on November 21 in Tokyo, becoming the company's first production model. Modeled on a period Ford truck, the G1 sold for ¥2,900, ¥200 cheaper than the Ford truck. A total of 379 G1 trucks were ultimately produced. In April 1936, Toyoda's first passenger car, the Model AA , was completed. The sales price was ¥3,350, ¥400 cheaper than Ford or GM cars. The company's plant at Kariya

3139-560: The design and manufacturing of auto bodies, which were then mounted on truck frames made by Toyota. The project was a major test for Toyota, who would need to build bodies and develop a new chassis that would be comfortable, but still stand up to the muddy, slow, unpaved roads common in Japan at the time. The project had been championed for many years by founder Kiichiro Toyoda, who died suddenly on March 27, 1952. The first prototypes were completed in June 1953 and began extensive testing, before

3212-658: The end of 2017. The decision was based on the unfavourable Australian dollar making exports not viable, the high cost of local manufacture, and the high amount of competition in a relatively small local market. The company planned to consolidate its corporate functions in Melbourne by the end of 2017, and retain its Altona plant for other functions. The workforce is expected to be reduced from 3,900 to 1,300. Both Ford Motor Company and General Motors ( Holden ) followed suit, ending Australian production in 2016 and 2017 respectively. The automaker narrowly topped global sales for

3285-434: The end), and with a voiceless consonant instead of a voiced one (voiced consonants are considered to have a "murky" or "muddy" sound compared to voiceless consonants, which are "clear"). Since toyoda literally means "fertile rice paddies", changing the name also prevented the company from being associated with old-fashioned farming. The newly formed word was trademarked and the company began trading on August 28, 1937, as

3358-498: The first half of 2014, selling 5.1 million vehicles in the six months ending June 30, 2014, an increase of 3.8% on the same period the previous year. Volkswagen AG , which recorded sales of 5.07 million vehicles, was close behind. GM 8L90 transmission All 8L transmissions are based on the same globally patented gearset concept as the ZF 8HP from 2008. While fully retaining the same gearset logic, they differ from this only in

3431-526: The founder's son, Kiichiro Toyoda , Toyoda Automatic Loom Works established an Automobile Division on September 1, 1933, and formally declared its intention to begin manufacturing automobiles on January 29, 1934. A prototype Toyota Type A engine was completed on September 25, 1934, with the company's first prototype sedan, the A1 , completed the following May. As Kiichiro had limited experience with automobile production, he initially focused on truck production;

3504-420: The largest automakers in the world, the largest company in Japan and the ninth-largest company in the world by revenue , as of December 2020 . Toyota was the world's first automobile manufacturer to produce more than 10 million vehicles per year, a record set in 2012, when it also reported the production of its 200 millionth vehicle. By September 2023, total production reached 300 million vehicles. Toyota

3577-630: The loophole that allowed Toyota to pay lower taxes by building truck beds in America. Also in 1981, Eiji Toyoda stepped down as president and assumed the title of chairman. He was succeeded as president by Shoichiro Toyoda , the son of the company's founder. Within months, Shoichiro started to merge Toyota's sales and production organizations, and in 1982 the combined companies became the Toyota Motor Corporation. The two groups were described as "oil and water" and it took years of leadership from Shoichiro to successfully combine them into one organization. In Japan, Toyota offered mid-level luxury cars that were

3650-422: The number of components used compared to existing layouts. The ZF 8HP has become the new reference standard (benchmark) for automatic transmissions. The ratios of the 8 gears are relatively unevenly distributed in all versions. Particularly noticeable are the too small step between 3rd and 4th gear and the too large one between 7th and 8th gear. This cannot be eliminated without affecting all other gear ratios. On

3723-413: The number of ratios, ZF and consequently GM have abandoned the conventional design method of limiting themselves to pure in-line epicyclic gearing and extended it to a combination with parallel epicyclic gearing . This was only possible thanks to computer-aided design and has resulted in a globally patented gearset concept. The resulting progress is reflected in a better ratio of the number of gears to

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3796-522: The onset of World War II , Toyota almost exclusively produced standard-sized trucks for the Japanese Army, which paid one-fifth of the price in advance and the remainder in cash upon delivery. Japan was heavily damaged in World War II and Toyota's plants, which were used for the war effort, were not spared. On August 14, 1945, one day before the surrender of Japan , Toyota's Koromo Plant

3869-454: The other hand the selected gearset concept offers 2 to 3 gears more than conventional transmissions of comparable manufacturing costs, which more than compensates for the weaknesses. R & Even The 8L 90 is the subject of a class-action lawsuit filed in December 2018 that alleges the transmission suffers from persistent "shudder" issues and that GM has known about the problems since its introduction and has failed to provide

3942-628: The other in Blue Springs, Mississippi, USA. The company was number one in global automobile sales for the first quarter of 2008. Toyota was hit by the global financial crisis of 2008 as it was forced in December 2008 to forecast its first annual loss in 70 years. In January 2009, it announced the closure of all of its Japanese plants for 11 days to reduce output and stocks of unsold vehicles. In October 2009, Toyota announced that they were establishing an office in South Korea and launched

4015-467: The patented arrangement of the components with gearsets 1 and 3 swapped. The 8L 90 is the first 8-speed automatic transmission built by General Motors . It was debuting in 2014 and is designed for use in longitudinal engine applications either attached to the front-located engine with a standard bell housing or in the rear of the car adjacent to the differential (as in the Corvette). It

4088-405: The possible mechanical sticking of the accelerator pedal . At least 37 were killed in crashes allegedly related to unintended acceleration, approximately 9 million cars and trucks were recalled, Toyota was sued for personal injuries and wrongful deaths, paid US$ 1 billion to settle a class action lawsuit to compensate owners for lost resale value, and paid a US$ 1.2 billion criminal penalty to

4161-664: The same battery cells from the Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid and the software is a modified version of the Chevrolet Volt 's. Toyota Toyota Motor Corporation ( Japanese : トヨタ自動車株式会社 , Hepburn : Toyota Jidōsha kabushikigaisha , IPA: [toꜜjota] , English: / t ɔɪ ˈ j oʊ t ə / , commonly known as simply Toyota ) is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi , Japan . It

4234-537: The same time, sports cars like the Supra , Celica , MR2 , Corolla Levin , Sprinter Trueno , and even the subcompact Starlet GT reflected a time of prosperity. December 1997 saw the introduction of the first-generation Toyota Prius , the first mass-produced gasoline-electric hybrid car. The vehicle would be produced exclusively for the Japanese market for the first two years. With a major presence in Europe, due to

4307-585: The slight opening of the Japanese auto market to foreign companies. In an effort to strengthen Japan's auto industry ahead of the market opening, Toyota purchased stakes in other Japanese automakers. That included a stake in Hino Motors , a manufacturer of large commercial trucks, buses and diesel engines, along with a 16.8 percent stake in Daihatsu , a manufacturer of kei cars , the smallest highway-legal passenger vehicles sold in Japan. That began what became

4380-425: The small company into a leader in the industry and was the subject of many academic studies. In the 1960s, Toyota took advantage of the rapidly growing Japanese economy to sell cars to a growing middle-class, leading to the development of the Toyota Corolla , which became the world's all-time best-selling automobile . The booming economy also funded an international expansion that allowed Toyota to grow into one of

4453-617: The success of Toyota Team Europe in motorsport, the corporation decided to set up Toyota Motor Europe Marketing and Engineering, TMME , to help market vehicles in the continent. Two years later, Toyota set up a base in the United Kingdom, TMUK , as the company's cars had become very popular among British drivers. Bases in Indiana , Virginia , and Tianjin were also set up. Toyota also increased its ownership of Daihatsu during this period. In 1995, Toyota increased its shareholding in

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4526-432: The system is named eAssist and includes a larger more powerful Hitachi-supplied 115-volt lithium-ion battery and a 11.2 kW (15.0 hp) motor-generator that delivers 79 lb⋅ft (107 N⋅m) of torque. The additional power provided by the more powerful battery and motor provides the ability to contribute more power, and more often able to electrically start and assist the 2.4L engine. The eAssist system also includes

4599-410: The system. This allows THS-M vehicles to be produced on the same assembly line as non-hybrid versions, producing substantial cost savings and allowing production to be adjusted more easily. The first production model equipped with THS-M was the eleventh generation Toyota Crown Royal Saloon Mild Hybrid, introduced in August 2001, combining the system with a 3.0 L 2JZ-FSE straight-six engine . It

4672-404: The trip, along with what the company learned making looms, gave rise to The Toyota Way (a management philosophy) and the Toyota Production System (a lean manufacturing practice) that transformed the company into a leader in the manufacturing industry. Toyota started developing its first full-fledged passenger car, the Toyopet Crown , in 1952. Prior to the Crown, Toyota had been outsourcing

4745-404: The vehicle's trunk and operating in a 42-volt electrical system ) is used to operate a permanent magnet motor/generator unit mounted to the engine in a similar fashion to a conventional alternator. Then, through a high-tension drive belt, the motor/generator unit is capable of starting or assisting the engine. A conventional 12-volt battery and starter motor are retained and used whenever the engine

4818-446: The year 2005. Also in 2005, Fujio Cho would shift to become chairman of Toyota and would be replaced as president by Katsuaki Watanabe . In 2007, Toyota released an update of its full-sized truck, the Tundra, produced in two American factories, one in Texas and one in Indiana. Motor Trend named the 2007 Toyota Camry "Car of the Year" for 2007. It also began the construction of two new factories, one in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada, and

4891-416: The years after, consumers started demanding high-quality and fuel-efficient small cars. Domestic automakers, in the midst of their malaise era , struggled to build these cars profitably, but foreign automakers like Toyota were well positioned. This, along with growing anti-Japanese sentiment , prompted the U.S. Congress to consider import restrictions to protect the domestic auto industry. The 1960s also saw

4964-406: Was bombed by the Allied forces . After the surrender, the U.S.-led occupying forces banned passenger car production in Japan. However, automakers like Toyota were allowed to begin building trucks for civilian use, in an effort to rebuild the nation's infrastructure. The U.S. military also contracted with Toyota to repair its vehicles. By 1947, there was an emerging global Cold War between

5037-414: Was completed in May. In July, the company filled its first export order, with four G1 trucks exported to northeastern China. On September 19, 1936, the Japanese imperial government officially designated Toyota Automatic Loom Works as an automotive manufacturer. Vehicles were originally sold under the name "Toyoda" (トヨダ), from the family name of the company's founder, Kiichirō Toyoda . In September 1936,

5110-415: Was followed in October 2002 by the Toyota Crown Sedan Super Deluxe Mild Hybrid, which combines the system with a 2.0 L 1G-FE engine. General Motors introduced a BAS hybrid system in the 2007 Saturn Vue Green Line. The BAS is in the 2008–2009 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid. It operates on the same principle as Toyota's THS-M using a 36-volt electrical system (at 42–45 volts). According to

5183-414: Was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the largest automobile manufacturer in the world, producing about 10 million vehicles per year. The company was founded as a spinoff of Toyota Industries , a machine maker started by Sakichi Toyoda , Kiichiro's father. Both companies are now part of the Toyota Group , one of the largest conglomerates in the world. While still

5256-432: Was praised for being a leader in the development and sales of more fuel-efficient hybrid electric vehicles , starting with the introduction of the original Toyota Prius in 1997. The company now sells more than 40 hybrid vehicle models around the world. More recently, the company has also been criticized for being slow to adopt all-electric vehicles , instead focusing on the development of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles , like

5329-537: Was redesigned specifically for the American market with a more powerful engine. The Corona helped increase U.S. sales of Toyota vehicles to more than 20,000 units in 1966 (a threefold increase) and helped the company become the third-best-selling import brand in the United States by 1967. Toyota's first manufacturing investment in the United States came in 1972 when the company struck a deal with Atlas Fabricators, to produce truck beds in Long Beach, in an effort to avoid

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