Modes of Entry

Introduction

 Toyota is one of the world's largest automobile manufacturers, selling over 9 million models in 2006¹ on all five continents. A Top 10 Fortune Global 500² enterprise, Toyota ranks among the world's leading global corporations and is proud to be the most admired automaker³, an achievement the company believes stems from its dedication to customer satisfaction. Toyota has been shaped by a set of values and principles that have their roots in the company's formative years in Japan.

The Toyota story begins in the late 19th century, when Saki chi Toyoda invented Japan’s first power loom, which was to revolutionize the country’s textile industry. In January 1918, Saki chi founded the Toyoda Spinning & Weaving Company, and with the help of his son, Kiichiro Toyoda, he fulfilled his lifelong dream of building an automatic loom in 1924. Two years later, he established Toyoda Automatic Loom Works.

Like his father, Kiichiro was an innovator, and during his visits to Europe and the U.S. in the 1920s, he became deeply interested in the nascent automotive industry. Making the most of the £100,000 that Saki chi Toyoda received for selling the patent rights of his automatic loom, Kiichiro laid the foundations of Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC), which was established in 1937. From looms to cars, the Toyota experience has been shaped by extending the boundaries of manufacturing.

Toyota worldwide

Apart from TMC itself, one of Kiichiro Toyoda’s greatest legacies is the famous Toyota Production System. 

Driven by the need to make more with less, while ensuring the best possible quality and reliability, Kiichiro invented and fine-tuned his "just-in-time" philosophy, which allowed the company to reduce in-process inventory and efficiently produce only precise quantities of pre-ordered items with a minimum of waste. This approach was to become a key factor in the company’s development, in line with a philosophy of consistent respect for people and the...