TOYOTA: A BRIEF HISTORY

The history of Toyota is rather long but an interesting one. Here I will try to present a short overview of it, as I will try to touch upon important aspects of it. Aspects which helped Toyota to become, out of a small Japanese firm, the biggest single producer and the second biggest producer of cars in the world, after General Motors.
The story begins with the birth of Sakichi Toyoda on February 14, 1867, which was about the time the Japanese modernization and industrialization had began. Toyoda began his engineering achievements in the field of textile, and particularly with the creation in 1897 of a modern loom, known as the G-type Automatic Loom, at the time the most technologically advanced. After this success, Toyoda decided to pursue his dream, to create an automobile. Thus, with the help from his son Kiichiro Toyoda and using the money from the successful loom technology, Toyoda invested in his research and development of an automobile in 1930. As the work was progressing, he established the first Automobile Department, within his existing "Toyoda Automatic Loom Works" company in September 1933. In April 1935 Toyoda completed the first prototype of an engine named the type A, and soon thereafter the first automobile, the A1. In April 1936 the mass production of the A1 and a light truck G1, based on the A1, begins. The successful project, leads to the establishment of Toyota Motor Corporation Ltd., on August 28, 1937 by Kiichiro Toyoda. The letter "d" in the name Toyoda, was replaced by the letter "t" for softer sounding, and easier pronunciation.
After the end of the Second World war TMC starts working hard, and by October 1947, it managed to do the first post-war export, BM trucks to Okinawa, and SA cars to Egypt. A bit later, on December 16 1947, Toyota established the Nippondenso Co., Ltd. During 1969 Toyota celebrates its one millionth exported car, and by 1979 the tenth millionth exported car (which by the way happened to be a Celica Supra 1st generation).
All these incredible successes were achieved by the so called "Toyotism" or the system of production created by Toyota, and said to be the best and most efficient one in the world of automobile production. The main aspects of it are a mixture of strict quality control, close relations with the local communities, selection and training of the labour force, very clear and liberal relationship between the worker, the mid and high managerial levels, minimised hierarchy in the company. This mixture created the perfect base for the evolution of Toyota as a company and its products as well. Its global view quickly achieved production bases all over the world. Toyota's strict policy of using the most advanced and modern technology in the production of, as well as utilizing it in their cars, brought the company today, as the undisputed leader in the important field of technological advance.