Sixty years ago, in 1937, the Toyota Motor Co. Ltd (TMC) was first established as a spin-off from Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, one of the world's leading manufacturers of weaving machinery. The Toyoda Automatic Loom Works was then headed by Japan's "King of Inventors" Sakichi Toyoda. The patent rights to one of his machines had been sold to Platt Brothers (UK) and provided the seed-money for the development and test building of Toyota's first automobiles.

Toyota launched its first small car (Model SA) in 1947. Production of vehicles outside Japan began in 1959 at a small plant in Brazil, and continued with a growing network of overseas plants. Toyota believes in localizing its operations to provide customers with the products they need, where they need them. This philosophy builds mutually beneficial long-term relationships with local suppliers and helps the company fulfill its commitments to local labor.

In the late 1950's production systems were improved, culminating in the establishment of the 'Toyota Production System'. It became known as TPS in 1970 but was established much earlier by Taïchi Ohno. Based on the principles of Jidoka, Just-in-time and Kaizen, the system is a major factor in the reduction of inventories and defects in the plants of Toyota and its suppliers, and it underpins all their operations across the world.

Today, Toyota is the world's third largest manufacturer of automobiles. It is by far the largest Japanese automotive manufacturer, producing more than 4.5 million vehicles per year, equivalent to one every six seconds. In the time it has taken you to read this paragraph, they'll have produced at least another three or four cars!

For a complete chronological history of Toyota, you may vist the Toyota website History section - Please select the Year Range from the List below: