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Friday, January 21, 2011

Economy of United States


The economy of the United States is the world's largest national economy. Its nominal GDP was estimated to be $14.3 trillion in 2009, approximately a quarter of nominal global GDP. Its GDP at purchasing power parity was also the largest in the world, approximately a fifth of global GDP at purchasing power parity. The U.S. economy also maintains a very high level of output per capita. In 2009, it was estimated to have a per capita GDP (PPP) of $46,381, the 6th highest in the world.
Historically, the U.S. economy has maintained a stable overall GDP growth rate, a low unemployment rate, and high levels of research and capital investment funded by both national and, because of decreasing saving rates, increasingly by foreign investors. It has been the world's largest national economy since 1944 and remains the world's largest manufacturer, representing 19% of the world's manufacturing output. In 2009, consumer spending, coupled with government health care spending constituted 70% of the American economy. About 30% of the entire world's millionaire population reside in the United States (in 2009). Furthermore, 40% of the world's billionaires are American. The US is also home to the world's largest stock exchange, the New York Stock Exchange. It also boasts the world's largest gold reserves and the world's largest gold depository, the New York Federal Reserve Bank. The United States is also home to 139 of the world's 500 largest companies, which is almost twice that of any other country. A large contributor to the country's success has also been a very strong and stable currency. 


The US dollar holds about 60% of world reserves, as compared to its top competitor, the euro, which controls about 24%.
Since the 1960s, the United States economy absorbed savings from the rest of the world. The phenomenon is subject to discussion among economists. The US is by far the most heavily invested-into country in the world, with foreign investments made in the US measuring almost $2.4 trillion, which is more than twice that of any other country. The US is also by far the largest investor in the world, with US investments in foreign countries totaling over $3.3 trillion, which is almost twice that of any other country. Like other developed countries, the United States faces retiring baby boomers who have already begun withdrawing from their Social Security accounts; however, the American population is young and growing when compared to Europe or Japan. The United States public debt is in excess of $13 trillion and continues to grow at a rate of about $5.48 billion each day by direct calculation between Jan 31,2010 and August 31,2010.  and  Total public and private debt was $50.2 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2010, or 3.5 times GDP. Domestic financial assets totaled $131 trillion and domestic financial liabilities totaled $106 trillion.
The American labor market has attracted immigrants from all over the world and has one of the world's highest migration rates. The United States is ranked fourth, down from first in 2008-2009 due to the eco...........


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Economy of Japan


The economy of Japan is the third largest in the world after the United States and the People's Republic of China but ahead of Germany at 4th. According to the International Monetary Fund, the country's per capita GDP was at $32,608 or the 23rd highest in 2009.
For three decades from 1960, Japan experienced rapid economic growth, which was referred to as the Japanese post-war economic miracle. With average growth rates of 10% in the 1960s, 5% in the 1970s, and 4% in the 1980s, Japan was able to establish and maintain itself as the world's second largest economy since 1968, until supplanted by the People's Republic of China in 2010. However, in the second half of the 1980s, rising stock and real estate prices caused the Japanese economy to overheat in what was later to be known as the Japanese asset price bubble. The economic bubble came to an abrupt end as the Tokyo Stock Exchange crashed in 1990-92 and real estate prices peaked in 1991. Growth in Japan throughout the 1990s at 1.5% was slower than growth in other major developed economies, giving use to the term Lost Decade.
The problems of the 1990s may have been exacerbated by domestic policies intended to wring speculative excesses from the stock and real estate markets. With government efforts to revive economic growth throughout the 1990s unsuccessful, Junichiro Koizumi adopted policies to promote exports, effectively raising GDP on an average of 2.1% annually from 2003 to 2007. Subsequently, the global financial crisis and a collapse in domestic demand saw the economy shrunk 1.2% in 2008 and 5.0% in 2009.
A mountainous, volcanic island country, Japan has inadequate natural resources to support its growing economy and large population. Although many kinds of minerals were extracted throughout the country, most mineral resources had to be imported in the postwar era. Local deposits of metal-bearing ores were difficult to process because they were low grade. The nation's large and varied forest resources, which covered 70 percent of the country in the late 1980s, were not utilized extensively. Because of political decisions on local, prefectural, and nation levels, Japan decided not to exploit its forest resources for economic gain. Domestic sources only supplied between 25 and 30 percent of the nation's timber needs. Agriculture and fishing were the best developed resources, but only through years of painstaking investment and toil. The nation therefore built up the manufacturing and processing industries to convert raw materials imported from abroad. This strategy of economic development necessitated the establishment of a strong economic infrastructure to provide the needed energy, transportation, communications, and technological know-how.
Deposits of gold, magnesium, and silver meet current industrial demands, but Japan is dependent on foreign sources for many of the minerals essential to modern industry. Iron ore, copper, bauxite, and alumina must be imported, as well as many forest products.


Economic history
An 1856 ukiyo-e depicting Echigoya, the current Mitsukoshi.
Economic history of Japan
The economic history of Japan is one of the most studied for its spectacular growth for three times. First was the foundation of Edo (in 1603) to whole inland economical developments, second was the Meiji Restoration (in 1868) to be the first non European power, third was the defeat of the World War II (in 1945) when the island nation rose to become the world's second largest economy.


First contacts with Europe (16th century)
 Nanban trade
Renaissance Europeans were quite admiring of Japan when they reached the country in the 16th century. Japan was considered as a country immensely rich in precious metals, mainly owing to Marco Polo's accounts of gilded temples and palaces, but also due to the relative abundance of surface ores characteristic of a volcanic country, before large-scale deep-mining became possible in Industrial times. Japan was to become a major exporter of copper and silver during the period.
Japan was also perceived as a sophisticated feudal society with a high culture and a strong pre-industrial technology. It was densely populated and urbanized. It had Buddhist “universities” larger than any learning institution in the West, such as Salamanca or Coimbra. Prominent European observers of the time seemed to agree that the Japanese "excel not only all the other Oriental peoples, they surpass the Europeans as well" (Alessandro Valignano, 1584, "Historia del Principo y Progresso

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Top 10 Japanese companies

Look the Global  list and summarized where the Top 10 Japanese companies rank. The Top 10 list describes the type of industry that each company serves and lists the sales, profits, assets and market value for each company. Top ranks these global titans by a composite ranking from four metric – sales, profits, assets, and market value. .


Top 10 Japanese companies


Top 10 - largest Japanese companies 
Company Name

① Toyota
NTT
③ Honda
④ Nissan
⑤ 
Toshiba
⑥ Sony
⑦ Canon
⑧ JR East
⑨ Mitsubishi
⑩ 
Yamada Denki

Assets
(US$ bn)


171.71
150.87
63.09
60.56
116.68
68.04
23.34
56.79
67.69
60.52


Sales
(US$ bn)


135.82
92.41
67.44
57.77
41.62
63.23
24.76
21.71
112.76
22.12


Profits
(US$ bn)


7.99
2.17
3.61
4.19
1.40
0.98
1.61
0.83
0.46
0.68


Number of employees

265,532
221,265
130,100
119,940
52,322
167,500
102,567
78,958
47,370
35,554


Toyota Motor Corporation


Toyota Motor Corporation Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki-gaisha トヨタ自動車株式会社
TypePublic (TYO: 7203, LSE: TYT& NYSE: TM)
IndustryAutomotive
Robotics
Financial services
FoundedAugust 28, 1937
Founder(s)Kiichiro Toyoda
HeadquartersToyota City, Aichi, Japan
Area servedWorldwide
Key people
Fujio Cho (Chairman and Representative Director) Katsuaki Watanabe (Vice chairman and Representative Director) Akio Toyoda (President and Representative Director)
Shoichiro Toyoda (Honorary Chairman)
ProductsAutomobiles
Financial Services
Revenuedecrease ¥18.9 trillion (FY2010)
Operating incomeincrease ¥147.5 billion (FY2010)
Profitincrease ¥209.4 billion (FY2010)
Total assetsincrease ¥30.3 trillion (FY2010)
Total equityincrease ¥10.3 trillion (FY2010)
Employees71,116 (for TMC, total Toyota 320,808)
ParentToyota Group
DivisionsLexus
Scion
Subsidiaries522 (Toyota Group) Hino Motors, Ltd., Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd.,Toyota Financial Services, DENSO,Toyota Industries
WebsiteToyota Global

Toyota Motor Corporation (Japanese: トヨタ自動車株式会社 Toyota Jidōsha Kabushiki-gaisha?, TYO: 7203), LSE: TYT, NYSE: TM, commonly known simply as Toyota and abbreviated as TMC, is a multinational automaker headquartered in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. In 2009, Toyota Motor Corporation employed 71,116 people worldwide (total Toyota 320,808). TMC is the world's largest automobile manufacturer by sales and production.
The company was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in 1937 as a spinoff from his father's company Toyota Industries to create automobiles. Three years earlier, in 1934, while still a department of Toyota Industries, it created its first product, the Type A engine, and, in 1936, its first passenger car, the Toyota AA. Toyota Motor Corporation group companies are Toyota (including the Scion brand), Lexus, Daihatsu and Hino Motors,along with several "non-automotive" companies. TMC is part of the Toyota Group, one of the largest conglomerates in the world.
Toyota Motor Corporation is headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi and in Tokyo. In addition to manufacturing automobiles, Toyota provides financial services through its Toyota Financial Services division and also builds robots.

Company overview
Toyota headquarters in Toyota City, Japan
Vehicles were originally sold under the name "Toyoda" (トヨダ), from the family name of the company's founder, Kiichirō Toyoda. In September 1936, the company ran a public competition to design a new logo. Out of 27,000 entries the winning entry was the three Japanese katakana letters for "Toyoda" in a circle. But Risaburō Toyoda, who had married into the family and was not born with that name, preferred "Toyota" (トヨタ) because it took eight brush strokes (a fortuitous number) to write in Japanese, was visually simpler (leaving off the diacritic at the end) and with a voiceless consonant instead of a voiced one (voiced consonants are considered to have a "murky" or "muddy" sound compared to voiceless consonants, which are "clear"). Since "Toyoda" literally means "fertile rice paddies", changing the name also helped to distance the company from associations with old-fashioned farming. The newly formed word was trademarked and the company was registered in August 1937 as the "Toyota Motor Company".
In predominantly Chinese-speaking countries or regions using traditional Chinese characters, e.g. Hong Kong and Taiwan, Toyota is known as "豊田". In predominantly Chinese speaking countries using simplified Chinese characters (e.g. China), Toyota is known as "丰田" (pronounced as "Fēngtián" in Mandarin Chinese ). These are the same characters as the founding family's name "Toyoda" in Japanese, which translate to "fertile rice paddies" in the Chinese language as well.
From September 1947, Toyota's small-sized vehicles were sold under the name "Toyopet" (トヨペット). The first vehicle sold under this name was the Toyopet SA but it also included vehicles such as the Toyopet SB light truck, Toyopet Stout light truck, Toyopet Crown and the Toyopet Corona. However, when Toyota eventually entered the American market in 1957 with the Crown, the name was not well received due to connotations of toys and pets. The name was soon dropped for the American market but continued in other markets until the mid 1960s.
With over 30 million sold, the Corolla is one of the most
popular and best selling cars in the world.
The Toyota Motor Company received its first Japanese Quality Control Award at the start of the 1980s and began participating in a wide variety of motorsports. Due to the 1973 oil crisis, consumers in the lucrative US market began turning to small cars with better fuel economy. American car manufacturers had considered small economy cars to be an "entry level" product, and their small vehicles employed a low level of quality in order to keep the price low.
By the early sixties, the US had begun placing stiff import tariffs on certain vehicles. The Chicken tax of 1964 placed a 25% tax on imported light trucks. In response to the tariff, Toyota, Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. began building plants in the US by the early eighties.
In 1982, the Toyota Motor Company and Toyota Motor Sales merged into one company, the Toyota Motor Corporation. Two years later, Toyota entered into a joint venture with General Motors called NUMMI, the New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc, operating an automobile-manufacturing plant in Fremont, California. The factory was an old General Motors plant that had been closed for two years. Toyota then started to establish new brands at the end of the 1980s, with the launch of their luxury division Lexus in 1989.
In the 1990s, Toyota began to branch out from producing mostly compact cars by adding many larger and more luxurious vehicles to its lineup, including a full-sized pickup, the T100 (and later the Tundra); several lines of SUVs; a sport version of the Camry, known as the Camry Solara; and the Scion brand, a group of several affordable, yet sporty, automobiles targeted specifically to young adults. Toyota also began production of the world's best-selling hybrid car, the Prius, in 1997.
With a major presence in Europe, due to the success of Toyota Team Europe, the corporation decided to set up TMME, Toyota Motor Europe Marketing & Engineering, to help market vehicles in the continent. Two years later, Toyota set up a base in the United Kingdom, TMUK, as the company's cars had become very popular among British drivers. Bases in Indiana, Virginia and Tianjin were also set up. In 1999, the company decided to list itself on the New York and London Stock Exchanges.


Toyota Deutschland's headquarters in Cologne
In 2001, Toyota's Toyo Trust and Banking merged with two other banks to form UFJ Bank, which was accused of corruption by the Japan's government for making bad loans to alleged Yakuza crime syndicates with executives accused of blocking Financial Service Agency inspections. The UFJ was listed among Fortune Magazine's largest money-losing corporations in the world, with Toyota's chairman serving as a director. At the time, the UFJ was one of the largest shareholders of Toyota. As a result of Japan's banking crisis, UFJ merged with the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi to become the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.

In 2002, Toyota managed to enter a Formula One works team and establish joint ventures with French motoring companies Citroën and Peugeot a year after Toyota started producing cars in France.
Toyota ranked eighth on Forbes 2000 list of the world's leading companies for the year 2005. The company was number one in global automobile sales for the first quarter of 2008.
On December 7, 2004, a US press release was issued stating that Toyota would be offering Sirius Satellite Radios. However, as late as January 27, 2007, Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite radio kits were not available for Toyota factory radios.[citation needed] While the press release enumerated nine models, only limited availability existed at the dealer level in the US. As of 2008, all Toyota and Scion models have either standard or available XM radio kits. Major Lexus dealerships have been offering satellite radio kits for Lexus vehicles since 2005, in addition to factory-equipped satellite radio models.
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 gas prices have risen rapidly in the last few years.

Logo and branding



A replica of the 1936 Toyota Model AA, with the original Toyoda logo
In 1936, Toyota entered the passenger car market with its Model AA and held a competition to establish a new logo emphasizing speed for its new product line. After receiving 27,000 entries, one was selected that additionally resulted in a change of its monikor to "Toyota" from the family name "Toyoda." It was believed that the new name sounded better and its eight-stroke count in the Japanese language was associated with wealth and good fortune. The original logo no longer is found on its vehicles but remains the corporate emblem used in Japan.

Still, there were no guidelines for the use of the brand name, "TOYOTA", which was used throughout most of the world, which led to inconsistencies in its worldwide marketing campaigns.
To remedy this, Toyota introduced a new worldwide logo in 1989 in conjunction with and to differentiate it from the newly released luxury Lexus brand. There are three ovals in the new logo that combine to form the letter "T", which stands for Toyota. The overlapping of the two perpendicular ovals inside the larger oval represent the mutually beneficial relationship and trust that is placed between the customer and the company while the larger oval that surrounds both of these inner ovals represent the "global expansion of Toyota's technology and unlimited potential for the future."
The logo started appearing on all printed material, advertisements, dealer signage, and the vehicles themselves in 1990.

Marketing


MEGAWEB, Toyota's permanent exhibition showroom and museum in Odaiba, Tokyo
Toyota's marketing efforts have focused on emphasizing the positive experiences of ownership and vehicle quality. The ownership experience has been targeted in slogans such as "Oh, what a feeling!" (1978–1985, in the US), "Who could ask for anything more" (1986–1989), "I love what you do for me, Toyota!" (1990–1997), "Everyday" (1997–2000)", "Get the feeling!" (2001–2004), and "Moving Forward" (2004–present).

Recently, Toyota's new United States marketing strategy has included such hits as "Swagger Wagon"  and the marketing for the new Avalon, which includes a throwback to the "old days of travel."

Sports
Toyota Center, Toyota Park, Toyota Racing, Toyota Racing Development, and Toyota in motorsports

Company strategy

The Toyota Way
Toyota's management philosophy has evolved from the company's origins and has been reflected in the terms "Lean Manufacturing" and Just In Time Production, which it was instrumental in developing. Toyota's managerial values and business methods are known collectively as the Toyota Way.
In April 2001 the Toyota Motor Corporation adopted the "Toyota Way 2001," an expression of values and conduct guidelines that all Toyota employees should embrace. Under the two headings of Respect for People and Continuous Improvement, Toyota summarizes its values and conduct guidelines with the following five principles:
Challenge
Kaizen (improvement)
Genchi Genbutsu (go and see)
Respect
Teamwork
According to external observers, the Toyota Way has four components:
Long-term thinking as a basis for management decisions.
A process for problem-solving.
Adding value to the organization by developing its people.
Recognizing that continuously solving root problems drives organizational learning.
The Toyota Way incorporates the Toyota Production System.

Operations
Toyota Production System
Toyota has long been recognized as an industry leader in manufacturing and production. Three stories of its origin have been found,[where?] one that they studied Piggly-Wiggly's just-in-time distribution system, one that they followed the writings of W. Edwards Deming, and one that they were given the principles from a WWII US government training program (Training Within Industry). It is possible that all these, and more, are true.[vague] Regardless of the origin, the principles described by Toyota in its management philosophy, The Toyota Way, are: Challenge, Kaizen (improvement), Genchi Genbutsu (go and see), Respect, and Teamwork.
As described by external observers of Toyota, the principles of the Toyota Way are:
Base your management decisions on a long-term philosophy, even at the expense of short-term goals
Create continuous process flow to bring problems to the surface
Use "pull" systems to avoid overproduction
Level out the workload
Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time
Standardized tasks are the foundation for continuous improvement and employee empowerment
Use visual control so no problems are hidden
Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that serves your people and processes
Grow leaders who thoroughly understand the work, live the philosophy, and teach it to others
Develop exceptional people and teams who follow your company’s philosophy
Respect your extended network of partners and suppliers by challenging them and helping them improve
Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand the situation (genchi genbutsu)
Make decisions slowly by consensus, thoroughly considering all options; implement decisions rapidly
Become a learning organization through relentless reflection and continuous improvement


Toyota Pavilion at the Expo in Aichi
Toyota has grown to a large multinational corporation from where it started and expanded to different worldwide markets and countries. It displaced GM and became the world's largest automobile maker for the year 2008. It held the title of the most profitable automobile maker (US$11 billion in 2006) along with increasing sales in, among other countries, the United States. The world headquarters of Toyota are located in its home country in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. Its subsidiary, Toyota Financial Services sells financing and participates in other lines of business. Toyota brands include Scion and Lexus and the corporation is part of the Toyota Group. Toyota also owns 51% of Daihatsu, and 16.7% of Fuji Heavy Industries, which manufactures Subaru vehicles. They also acquired 5.9% of Isuzu Motors Ltd. on November 7, 2006 and will be introducing Isuzu diesel technology into their products.

Toyota has introduced new technologies including one of the first mass-produced hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles, of which it says it has sold 2 million globally as of 2010, Advanced Parking Guidance System (automatic parking), a four-speed electronically controlled automatic with buttons for power and economy shifting, and an eight-speed automatic transmission. Toyota, and Toyota-produced Lexus and Scion automobiles, consistently rank near the top in certain quality and reliability surveys, primarily J.D. Power and Consumer Reports although they led in automobile recalls for the first time in 2009.
In 2005, Toyota, combined with its half-owned subsidiary Daihatsu Motor Company, produced 8.54 million vehicles, about 500,000 fewer than the number produced by GM that year. Toyota has a large market share in the United States, but a small market share in Europe. Its also sells vehicles in Africa and is a market leader in Australia. Due to its Daihatsu subsidiary it has significant market shares in several fast-growing Southeast Asian countries.
According to the 2008 Fortune Global 500, Toyota Motor is the fifth largest company in the world. Since the recession of 2001, it has gained market share in the United States. Toyota's market share struggles in Europe where its Lexus brand has three tenths of one percent market share, compared to nearly two percent market share as the US luxury segment leader.
In the first three months of 2007, Toyota together with its half-owned subsidiary Daihatsu reported number one sales of 2.348 million units. Toyota's brand sales had risen 9.2% largely on demand for Corolla and Camry sedans. The difference in performance was largely attributed to surging demand for fuel-efficient vehicles. In November 2006, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas added a facility in San Antonio. Toyota has experienced quality problems and was reprimanded by the government in Japan for its recall practices. Toyota currently maintains over 16% of the US market share and is listed second only to GM in terms of volume. Toyota Century Royal is the official state car of the Japanese imperial family, namely for the current Emperor of Japan.
Toyota was hit by the global financial crisis of 2008 as it was forced in December 2008 to forecast its first annual loss in 70 years. In January 2009 it announced the closure of all of its Japanese plants for 11 days to reduce output and stocks of unsold vehicles.
Akio Toyoda became the new president and CEO of the company on June 23, 2009 by replacing Katsuaki Watanabe who became the new vice chairman by replacing Katsuhiro Nakagawa.

Worldwide presence

The Camry is assembled in several facilities around the world including Australia, China, Taiwan, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Russia, Thailand, India, Vietnam and the United States.
Toyota has factories in most parts of the world, manufacturing or assembling vehicles for local markets. Toyota has manufacturing or assembly plants in Japan, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Canada, Indonesia, Poland, South Africa, Turkey, Colombia, the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Brazil, Portugal, and more recently, Argentina, Czech Republic, Mexico, Malaysia, Thailand, Pakistan, Egypt, China, Vietnam, Venezuela, the Philippines, and Russia.
Toyota's net revenue by geographical regions for the year ended 31 March 2007
Geographic region Total sales ( Yen in millions)
Japan 8,152,884
North America 8,771,495
Europe 3,346,013
Asia 1,969,957
Others 1,707,742
In 2002, Toyota initiated the "Innovative International Multi-purpose vehicle" project (IMV) to optimize global manufacturing and supply systems for pickup trucks and multipurpose vehicles, and to satisfy market demand in more than 140 countries worldwide. IMV called for diesel engines to be made in Thailand, gasoline engines in Indonesia and manual transmissions in India and the Philippines, for supply to the countries charged with vehicle production. For vehicle assembly, Toyota would use plants in Thailand, Indonesia, Argentina and South Africa. These four main IMV production and export bases supply Asia, Europe, Africa, Oceania, Latin America and the Middle East with three IMV vehicles: The Toyota Hilux (Vigo), the Fortuner, and the Toyota Innova.

North America
 Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America
Toyota Motor North America headquarters is located in Torrance, California and operates as a holding company in North America. Its manufacturing headquarters is located in Hebron, Kentucky, and is known as Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, or TEMA.


A Toyota dealership in Fremont, California.
Toyota Canada Inc. has been in production in Canada since 1983 with an aluminium wheel plant in Delta, British Columbia which currently employs a workforce of roughly 260. Its first vehicle assembly plant, in Cambridge, Ontario since 1988, now produces Corolla compact cars, Matrix crossover vehicles and Lexus RX 350 luxury SUVs, with a workforce of 4,300 workers. Its second assembly operation in Woodstock, Ontario began manufacturing the RAV4 late in 2008. In 2006, Toyota's subsidiary Hino Motors opened a heavy duty truck plant, also in Woodstock, employing 45 people and producing 2000 trucks annually.


Toyota Technical Center, Ann Arbor Twp., MI
Toyota has a large presence in the United States with five major assembly plants in Huntsville, Alabama; Georgetown, Kentucky; Princeton, Indiana; San Antonio, Texas; Buffalo, West Virginia. A new plant in Blue Springs, Mississippi is currently being finished after being put on hold during the recent economic downturn. The Mississippi operation is scheduled to go online with production in July or August of 2011. Toyota had a joint-venture operation with General Motors at New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI), in Fremont, California, which began in 1984 and ended in 2009. It still has a joint-venture with Subaru at Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. (SIA), in Lafayette, Indiana, which started in 2006. Production on a new manufacturing plant in Tupelo, Mississippi was scheduled for completion in 2010 but is currently on indefinite hold. North America is a major automobile market for Toyota. In these assembly plants, the Camry and the Tundra are manufactured, among others.
Toyota marketing, sales, and distribution in the US are conducted through a separate subsidiary, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. Toyota uses a number of slogans in its American TV commercials such as It's time to move forward, Smart way to keep moving forward, or Moving forward. It has started producing larger trucks, such as the new Tundra, to go after the large truck market in the United States. Toyota is also pushing hybrid vehicles in the US such as the Prius, Camry Hybrid, Highlander Hybrid, and various Lexus products.
Toyota has sold more hybrid vehicles in the country than any other manufacturer. Toyota is a public corporation and the company's shares are traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, New York Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange. Toyota also sponsors Club Deportivo Guadalajara.

Product line

Electric technology

Toyota Prius, flagship of Toyota's hybrid technology
Hybrid Synergy Drive and Hybrid electric vehicle
Toyota is one of the largest companies to push hybrid vehicles in the market and the first to commercially mass-produce and sell such vehicles, an example being the Toyota Prius. The company eventually began providing this option on the main smaller cars such as Camry and later with the Lexus divisions, producing some hybrid luxury vehicles. It labeled such technology in Toyota cars as "Hybrid Synergy Drive" and in Lexus versions as "Lexus Hybrid Drive."
The Prius has become the top selling hybrid car in America. Toyota, as a brand, now has three hybrid vehicles in its lineup: the Prius, Highlander, and Camry. The popular minivan Toyota Sienna is scheduled to join the hybrid lineup by 2010, and by 2030 Toyota plans to offer its entire lineup of cars, trucks, and SUVs with a Hybrid Synergy Drive option (Toyota has said it plans to make a hybrid-electric system available on every vehicle it sells worldwide sometime in the 2010s).


Lexus LS 600h hybrid sedan.
Worldwide sales of hybrid vehicles produced by Toyota reached 1.0 million vehicles by May 31, 2007, and the 2.0 million mark was reached by August 31, 2009, with hybrids sold in 50 countries. Toyota's hybrid sales are led by the Prius, with worldwide cumulative sales of 1.43 million by August 2009. Toyota's CEO has committed to eventually making every car of the company a hybrid vehicle. Lexus also has their own hybrid lineup, consisting of the GS 450h, RX 400h, and launched in 2007, the LS 600h/LS 600h L.
Toyota and Honda have already said they've halved the incremental cost of electric hybrids and see cost parity in the future (even without incentives). Hybrids are viewed by some automobile makers as a core segment of the future vehicle market.

Plug-in hybrid
Plug-in Prius concept
Toyota is currently testing its "Toyota Plug-in HV" in Japan, the United States, and Europe. Like GM's Volt, it uses a lithium-ion battery pack. The PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) could have a lower environmental impact than existing hybrids.
On June 5, 2008, A123Systems announced that its Hymotion plug-in hybrid conversion kits for the Prius would be installed by six dealers, including four Toyota dealerships: Westboro Toyota in Boston, Fitzgerald Toyota in Washington D.C., Toyota of Hollywood in Los Angeles, and Madison Wisconsin-based Smart Motors.

All-electric vehicles
Toyota is speeding up the development of vehicles that run only on electricity with the aim of mass-producing them in the early part of the next decade. Road tests for the current prototype, called "e-com", had ended in 2006. Toyota has made many concept electric vehicles, including the FT-EV and FT-EV II.
In May 2010, Toyota launched a collaboration with Tesla Motors to create electric vehicles. Toyota agreed to purchase US$50 million of Tesla common stock subsequent to the closing of Tesla's planned initial public offering. Tesla will buy Toyota's recently closed NUMMI factory for US$42 million. Toyota plans to release an electric version of the RAV4 by 2012 using components from Tesla and the platform of the RAV4.


Second generation Toyota Estima Hybrid

Cars
Further information: List of Toyota vehicles
As of 2009, Toyota officially lists approximately 70 different models sold under its namesake brand, including sedans, coupes, vans, trucks, hybrids, and crossovers. Many of these models are produced as passenger sedans, which range from the subcompact Toyota Yaris, to compact Corolla, to mid-size Camry, and full-size Avalon. Vans include the Previa/Estima, Sienna, and others. Several small cars, such as the xB and tC, are sold under the Scion brand.

SUVs and crossovers
Toyota crossovers range from the compact Matrix and RAV4, to midsize Venza and Kluger/Highlander. Toyota SUVs range from the midsize 4Runner to full-size Land Cruiser. Other SUVs include the Land Cruiser Prado and FJ Cruiser.

Pickup trucks

The examples and perspective in this section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (August 2010)

2007 Tundra Double Cab
The Tundra is a full-size pickup truck sold by Toyota that originally went into production in 1999 for the 2000 US model year. As of early 2010, the Tundra has captured 16 percent of the full-size half-ton market in the US. The all new Tundra is assembled in San Antonio, Texas, US. Toyota Motor Corporation assembled around 150,000 Standard and Double Cabs, and only 70,000 Crew Max's in 2007. In addition to the Tundra, Toyota also produces the Tacoma, with a smaller body and smaller engine than its bigger brother. The Tacoma is also produced at the company's San Antonio facility.
Outside the United States, Toyota produces the Hilux in Standard and double cab, gasoline and diesel engine, 2WD and 4WD versions. The BBC's Top Gear TV show featured 2 episodes of a Hilux that was deemed "virtually indestructible".

Luxury-type vehicles

As of 2009, the company sells nine luxury-branded models under its Lexus division, ranging from the LS sedan to RX crossover and LX SUV. Luxury-type sedans produced under the Toyota brand include the Century, Crown Royal, and Crown Athlete. A limited-edition model produced for the Emperor of Japan is the Century Royal.

Motorsport

 Toyota in motorsports
Toyota has been involved in many global motorsports series. They also represent their Lexus brand in other sports car racing categories. Toyota also makes engines and other auto parts for other Japanese motorsports including formula Nippon, Super GT, formula 3 and formula Toyota series. Toyota also runs a driver development programme known as TDP (Toyota Young Drivers Program) which they made for funding and educating future Japanese motorsports talent. Toyota Motorsport GmbH, with and headquarters in Cologne, Germany) was previously responsible for Toyota's major motorsports development including Formula One. Toyota Motorsport GmbH also developed cars for World Rally Championship and Le Mans Series. Toyota enjoyed success in all these motorsports categories. In 2002, Toyota entered Formula One as a constructor and engine supplier, however despite having experienced drivers and a larger budget than many other teams, they failed to match their success in other categories, with five second places their best results. On 4 November 2009 Toyota announced they were pulling out of the sport due to the global economic situation.

TRD
Toyota Racing Development was brought about to help develop true high performance racing parts for many Toyota vehicles. TRD has often had much success with their after market tuning parts, as well as designing technology for vehicles used in all forms of racing.TRD is also responsible for Toyota's involvement in NASCAR motorsports.

Non-automotive activities

Aerospace
Toyota is a minority shareholder in Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation, having invested US$67.2 million in the new venture which will produce the Mitsubishi Regional Jet, slated for first deliveries in 2013. Toyota has also studied participation in the general aviation market and contracted with Scaled Composites to produce a proof-of-concept aircraft, the TAA-1 in 2002.

Philanthropy

The Toyota Municipal Museum of Art in Aichi, sponsored by the manufacturer
Toyota is supporter of the Toyota Family Literacy Program along with National Center for Family Literacy, helping low-income community members for education, United Negro College Fund (40 annual scholarships), National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (US$1 million) among others. Toyota created the Toyota USA Foundation.

Higher education
Toyota established the Toyota Technological Institute in 1981, as Sakichi Toyoda had planned to establish a university as soon as he and Toyota became successful. Toyota Technological Institute founded the Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago in 2003. Toyota is supporter of the "Toyota Driving Expectations Program," "Toyota Youth for Understanding Summer Exchange Scholarship Program," "Toyota International Teacher Program," "Toyota TAPESTRY," "Toyota Community Scholars" (scholarship for high school students), "United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Internship Program," and "Toyota Funded Scholarship." It has contributed to a number of local education and scholarship programs for the University of Kentucky, Indiana, and others.

Robotics
 Toyota Partner Robot

Toyota trumpet-playing robot
In 2004, Toyota showcased its trumpet-playing robot. Toyota has been developing multitask robots destined for elderly care, manufacturing, and entertainment. A specific example of Toyota's involvement in robotics for the elderly is the Brain Machine Interface. Designed for use with wheelchairs, it "allows a person to control an electric wheelchair accurately, almost in real-time", with his mind. The thought controls allow the wheelchair to go left, right and forward with a delay between thought and movement of just 125 milliseconds.

Finance
Toyota Financial Services Corporation provides financing to Toyota customers.

Agricultural biotechnology
Toyota invests in several small start-up businesses and partnerships in biotechnology, including:
P.T. Toyota Bio Indonesia in Lampung, Indonesia
Australian Afforestation Pty. Ltd. in Western Australia and Southern Australia
Toyota Floritech Co., Ltd. in Rokkasho-Mura, Kamikita District, Aomori Prefecture
Sichuan Toyota Nitan Development Co., Ltd. in Sichuan, China
Toyota Roof Garden Corporation in Miyoshi-Cho, Aichi Prefecture

Financial information

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.
As reported on its consolidated financial statements, Toyota has 540 consolidated subsidiaries and 226 affiliates.
Toyota Motor North America (100% – 2004)
Toyota Canada Inc. owned via Toyota Motor North America
Toyota Tsusho – Trading company for the Toyota Group
Daihatsu Motor Company (51.2% – March 31, 2006)
Lexus 100% (1989)
Scion 100% (2003)
DENSO (24.74% – September 30, 2006)
Toyota Industries (23.51% – March 31, 2006)
Aisin Seiki Co. (23.0% – September 30, 2006)
Fuji Heavy Industries (16.66% – June 28, 2008)
Isuzu Motors (5.9% – November 10, 2006)
PT Toyota Astra Motor (49% – 2003)
PT Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indonesia (95% – 2003)

Government bailouts
Toyota's financial unit has asked for an emergency loan from a state-backed lender on March 16, 2009, with reports putting the figure at more than US$3 billion. It says the international financial situation is squeezing its business, forcing it to ask for an emergency loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. It is the first time the state-backed bank has been asked to lend to a Japanese car manufacturer.

Production and sales numbers


Typical breakdown of sales by region
Calendar Year Total Japan United States
Production Sales Production Sales Sales
1935 20
1936 1,142
1937 4,013
1938 4,615
1939 11,981
1940 14,787
1941 14,611
1942 16,302
1943 9,827
1944 12,720
1945 3,275
1946 5,821
1947 3,922
1948 6,703
1949 10,824
1950 11,706
1951 14,228
1952 42,106
1953 16,496
1954 22,713
1955 22,786
1956 46,716
1957 79,527
1958 78,856
1959 101,194
1960 154,770
1961 210,937
1962 230,350
1963 318,495
1964 425,764
1965 477,643
1966 587,539
1967 832,130
1968 1,097,405
1969 1,471,211
1970 1,609,190
1971 1,955,033
1972 2,087,133
1973 2,308,098
1974 2,114,980
1975 2,336,053
1976 2,487,851
1977 2,720,758
1978 2,929,157
1979 2,996,225
1980 3,293,344
1981 3,220,418
1982 3,144,557
1983 3,272,335
1984 3,429,249
1985 3,665,622
1986 3,660,167
1987 3,638,279
1988 3,956,697 2,120,273
1989 3,975,902 2,308,863
1990 4,212,3732,504,291
1991 4,085,071 2,355,356
1992 3,931,341 2,228,941
1993 3,561,750 2,057,848
1994 3,508,456 2,031,064
1995 3,171,277 2,060,125
1996 3,410,060 2,135,276
1997 3,502,046 2,005,949
1998 5,210,000
1999 5,462,000
2000 5,954,723    1,619,206
2001 5,847,743  4,046,637 2,291,503 1,741,254
2002 6,309,307  4,138,873 2,218,324 1,756,127
2003 6,826,166  4,244,667 2,305,635 1,866,314
2004 7,547,1774,454,212 2,387,556 2,060,049
2005 8,232,143  4,611,076 2,368,8172,260,296
2006 9,017,786  5,085,600[ 2,368,706 2,542,524
2007 9,497,754  5,119,631 2,261,515 2,620,825
2008 9,225,236  4,911,861 2,153,197 2,217,662
2009 7,234,439  3,543,199 1,996,174 1,770,147
Calendar Year Production Sales Production Sales Sales
Total Japan United States
Japan production numbers 1937 to 1987. Global production since 1998, global and Japanese production, Japanese sales since 2001 consolidated incl. Daihatsu and Hino.

Environmental record

The Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) has been a leader in environmentally friendly vehicle technologies, most notably the RAV4 EV (produced from 1997 to 2003) and the Toyota Prius (1997 to present). Toyota is now working on their next generation Prius and second generation RAV4 EV both due out in 2012.
Toyota implemented its Fourth Environmental Action Plan in 2005. The plan contains four major themes involving the environment and the corporation's development, design, production, and sales. The five-year plan is directed at the, "arrival of a revitalized recycling-based society." Toyota had previously released its Eco-Vehicle Assessment System (Eco-VAS) which is a systematic life cycle assessment of the effect a vehicle will have on the environment including production, usage, and disposal. The assessment includes, "... fuel efficiency, emissions and noise during vehicle use, the disposal recovery rate, the reduction of substances of environmental concern, and CO2 emissions throughout the life cycle of the vehicle from production to disposal."2008 marks the ninth year for Toyota's Environmental Activities Grant Program which has been implemented every year since 2000. Themes of the 2008 program consist of "Global Warming Countermeasures" and "Biodiversity Conservation."
Since October 2006, Toyota's new Japanese-market vehicle models with automatic transmissions are equipped with an Eco Drive Indicator. The system takes into consideration rate of acceleration, engine and transmission efficiency, and speed. When the vehicle is operated in a fuel-efficient manner, the Eco Drive Indicator on the instrument panel lights up. Individual results vary depending on traffic issues, starting and stopping the vehicle, and total distance traveled, but the Eco Drive Indicator may improve fuel efficiency by as much as 4%.Along with Toyota's eco-friendly objectives on production and use, the company plans to donate US$1 million and five vehicles to the Everglades National Park. The money will be used to fund environmental programs at the park. This donation is part of a program which provides US$5 million and 23 vehicles for five national parks and the National Parks Foundation. However new figures from the United States National Research Council show that the continuing hidden health costs of the auto industry to the US economy in 2005 amounted to US$56 million.
The United States EPA has awarded Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc (TEMA) with a ENERGY STAR Sustained Excellence Award in 2007, 2008 and 2009 
In 2007, Toyota's Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) fleet average of 26.69 mpg-US (8.813 L/100 km; 32.05 mpg-imp) exceeded all other major manufactures selling cars within the United States. Only Lotus Cars which sold the Elise and Exige powered by Toyota's 2ZZ-GE engine did better with an average of 30.2 mpg-US (7.79 L/100 km; 36.3 mpg-imp).


 History of Toyota
Toyota started in 1933 as a division of Toyoda Automatic Loom Works devoted to the production of automobiles under the direction of the founder's son, Kiichiro Toyoda. Its first vehicles were the A1 passenger car and the G1 in 1935. Toyota Motor Co. was established as an independent company in 1937. In 2008, Toyota's sales surpassed General Motors, making Toyota number one in the world.

Recent company developments
2007–2010 financial crisis
On May 8, 2009, Toyota reported a record annual net loss of US$4.2 billion, making it the latest automobile maker to be severely affected by the 2007–2010 financial crisis.

2009–2010 vehicle recalls
2009–2010 Toyota vehicle recalls
From November 2009 through the first quarter of 2010, Toyota recalled more than 8 million (accounts differ) 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. On February 24, 2010, Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. On 6 April 2010, The US government sought a record penalty of US$16.375 million from Toyota for its delayed response in notifying the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regarding the defective accelerator pedals. On 18 May 2010, Toyota paid the fine without an admission of wrongdoing. The record fine and the high profile hearings caused accusations of conflict of interest. Senior managing director Takahiko Ijichi said that recall-related costs in the financial year that ended March 2010 totaled US$1.93 billion (¥180 billion).
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(source:wikipedia)