Toyota Motor Corporation (¥È¥è¥¿×Ô?ÓÜ?Öêʽ»áÉç, Toyota Jid¨sha Kabushiki-gaisha?), or Toyota for short, is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer.
It is the world's largest automaker by revenue (USD $215.62 billion[5]), production, sales (first half 2007: 4.72 million[6]) and profit ($15.09 billion[7]) in front of General Motors. Toyota owns and operates Toyota, Lexus, Scion, has a majority shareholding in Daihatsu Motors (a minicar manufacturer, that includes the hybrid vehicle technology Daihatsu Mild Hybrid System)[8], Hino Motors (a manufacturer of commercial trucks, including hybrid vehicles) [9] and has minority shareholdings in Fuji Heavy Industries (a manufacturer of Subaru brand cars), Isuzu Motors (the commercial truck manufacturer) and in Yamaha Motors the engine, motor cycle and marine craft manufacturer. Te company includes 522 subsidiaries.[10]
The company was founded in 1937 byKiichiro Toyoda as a spinoff from his father's (Sakichi Toyoda) company Toyota Industries to create automobiles. In 1934, while still a department of Toyota Industries, it created its first product Type A engine and its first passenger car (the Toyota AA) in 1936. It is headquartered in Toyota, Aichi and Bunkyo Tokyo, Japan. It also provides financial services through its division Toyota Financial Services and also creates robots besides automobiles. The company along with the original Toyota Industries form bulk of the Toyota Group.
Toyota together with its half owned subsidiary Daihatsu, is the world's largest seller of cars for the first half of 2007 selling 4.72 million vehicles, ending General Motors' 76 year reign as the world's best selling marque. [11] Toyota plans to produce 9.4 million vehicles in 2007.[12]. It plans to sell 10.4 million aut ...