Kiichiro Toyoda (豊田喜一郎 'Toyoda Kiichirō', June 11, 1894
– March 27, 1952) was a Japanese entrepreneur and the son of Toyoda Loom Works
founder Sakichi Toyoda. He made the decision for Toyoda Loom Works to branch
into automobiles , considered a risky business at the time . Shortly before
Sakichi Toyoda died , he encouraged his son to follow his dream and pursue
automobile manufacturing , Kiichiro
created what eventually became Toyota Motor Corporation .
Kiichiro Toyoda (豊田喜一郎 'Toyoda Kiichirō', June 11, 1894
– March 27, 1952) was a Japanese entreprenuer and the son of Toyoda Loom Works
founder Sakichi Toyoda . He made the decision for Toyoda Loom Works to branch
into automobiles , considered a risky business at the time . Shortly before
Sakichi Toyoda died , he encouraged his son to follow his dream and pursue
automobile manufacturing — Kiichiro created what eventually became Toyota Motor
Corporation .
He resigned from the company in 1948 due to flagging sales
and profitability, passing away four years later. In 1957, his cousin and
confidant Eiji Toyoda would become head of Toyota Motor Corporation, overseeing
its successful expansion worldwide and the launch of Japan's most prominent
luxury vehicle brand, Lexus.
Eiji Toyoda (豊田英二 Toyoda Eiji) born 12 September
1913 near Nagoya in Japan, is a prominent Japanese industrialist, who was
largely responsible for bringing Toyota Motor Corporation to profitability and
worldwide prominence during his tenure as president and later chairman. Born
into a family of textile manufacturers, Eiji Toyoda is the son of Heihachi
Toyoda, the brother of Toyoda Loom Works founder Sakichi Toyoda.
He studied engineering at Tokyo Imperial University from 1933
to 1936. During this time Toyoda's cousin Kiichiro established an automobile
plant at the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works in the city of Nagoya in central Japan
. Toyoda joined his cousin in the plant at the conclusion of his degree and
throughout their lives they shared a deep friendship.
Toyota is publicly traded on the Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka, and Sapporo exchanges
under company code TYO: 7203. In addition,
Toyota is foreign-listed on the New
York Stock Exchange under NYSE: TM and on the London
Stock Exchange under LSE: TYT. Toyota has been publicly
traded in Japan since 1949 and internationally since 1999.
From November 2009 through 2010 , Toyota recalled more
than 9 million cars and trucks worldwide in several recall campaigns , and
briefly halted production and sales . The US Sales Chief, James Lentz, was
questioned by the United States Congress committees on Oversight and
Investigations on February 23, 2010, as a result of recent recalls .
Mostly people
will think that Toyota Way is same as Toyota Production System (TPS), but it is
not same. TPS is already included in the 14 principles of the Toyota Ways. TPS
is the most efficient and well developed example of which principles of the
Toyota Way can carry out. Toyota Way consists of the basic principles of Toyota
culture, which consent to s the TPS to operate so successfully.
In 2007, Toyota released an update of its full size truck, the Tundra, produced in two American factories, one in Texas and one in Indiana. "Motor Trend" named the Tundra "Truck of the Year," and the 2007 Toyota Camry "Car of the Year" for 2007. It also began the construction of two new factories, one to build the RAV4 in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada and the other to build the Toyota Prius in Blue Springs, Mississippi, USA. This plant was originally intended to build the Toyota Highlander, but Toyota decided to use the plant in Princeton, Indiana, USA, instead. The company has also found recent success with its smaller models—the Corolla and Yaris—as gasoline prices have risen rapidly in the last few years.
Kiichiro Toyoda died on March 27 , 1952 (aged 57)
