Toyota: history of

Toyota, the car manufacturer, began its life in 1933 as merely the automotive division of Japanese giant Toyoda Automatic Loom Works. Kiichiro Toyoda – son of Toyoda’s founder – was given control of this side of the business and, having spent much of 1929 travelling around Europe and North America investigating automobile production, eagerly began work on Toyoda’s first motorcar.

Fast-forward to 1934 and Toyoda had successfully created its first engine, the Type A. This straight-6 engine was used in both Toyoda’s original vehicles; the A1 passenger car and the G1 truck, which were both launched in 1935. Toyoda’s overseas research was immediately evident with early vehicles borrowing a lot from their American counterparts; namely, the Dodge Power Wagon and Chevrolets – some parts were even interchangeable!

Toyoda’s automotive division finally achieved independence in 1937 upon which it was rebranded as Toyota, the brand we know today. However, it wasn’t until the 60s that Toyota began to achieve international success, during which time it expanded sales to Thailand, Australia and eventually to Europe and the Americas.

Despite its reputation for producing solid, reliable trucks, in recent years Toyota has focused more on producing environmentally-friendly vehicles such as the Prius or Yaris.

(Source: wikipedia.org / toyota.co.uk)