Toyota

From the textile industry to one of the most important vehicle manufacturers

The company has its origins in the textile industry, where in 1897 the industrialist Sakichi Toyoda initiated the expansion of his empire with the invention of a fully automatic loom. It was not until 1935, however, that the first car, the Toyoda A1, could be produced. This was followed in August 1937 by the founding of the Toyota Motor Corporation. The company's consistent success in the years that followed was due in no small part to the unique Toyota Production System (TPS), a concept designed to eliminate waste of any kind. The trigger for the development of the system was the former shortage of raw materials, with which Toyota had to contend. The company was forced to optimize procedures and processes organizationally and to use the available resources very sparingly.

Toyota is the market leader in hybrid vehicle technology as well as a distributor of so-called D-CAT technology, an exhaust gas cleaning technology developed for Toyota and Lexus diesel engines. Toyota also has significant holdings in Daihatsu, Isuzu and Subaru. Three interconnected ellipses represent the brand's logo. Here, the two small ellipses form the initial letter "T", and they are surrounded by a larger ellipse. The logo in its current form was first introduced in 1989.

Toyota offers a wide range of cars

Toyota focuses primarily on high-quality vehicles in the lower and mid-range price segments and specifically leaves high-priced vehicles to its luxury brand Lexus. On the market, Toyota is primarily known for its vehicles ranging from subcompact to mid-size cars as well as for its wide range of SUVs and took a pioneering role in alternative drive systems at a very early stage. Toyota Aygo represents the smallest vehicle in the fleet and has been built in its current form since 2014. The Toyota Yaris small car entered the market in its current generation in 2010. The Toyota's compact class has been impressing customers for 50 years and Toyota Corolla looks back on a success story that now spans more than 50 years and has been in production since 2018 in what is now the 12th generation. Toyota's mid-range Prius, which ushered in Toyota's hybrid era, enables low fuel consumption. In addition, Toyota is represented by the Mirai model, a hydrogen-powered vehicle with a fuel cell. In the upper mid-size segment, Toyota places Camry, now in its eighth generation of sales. Toyota has a very strong position in the popular SUV segment, with four vehicles in its range: the RAV4, Highlander, Land Cruiser and Hilux. Toyota also has two vans in its lineup, the Proace City Verso and Proace Verso passenger cars. It is the real leader.