About
Toyota's story begins in an unusual place for an automaker: a loom factory. In 1926, Sakichi Toyoda invented an automatic loom that stopped itself when a thread broke — the 'jido' principle of intelligent automation — and sold the patent to fund his son Kiichiro's dream of building cars. The loom's philosophy of 'never letting defects pass' became the soul of the Toyota Production System, the manufacturing philosophy that reshaped global industry. The company is now the world's largest automaker, selling over 10 million vehicles a year: the Corolla (the best-selling car model in history), the Camry, the RAV4 SUV, the Land Cruiser, and the luxury Lexus brand. Its hybrid technology, launched with the Prius in 1997, made Toyota the early leader in fuel efficiency, and its hydrogen fuel cell Mirai and the expanding bZ electric line show its multi-path strategy to carbon neutrality. Beyond cars, Toyota builds trucks, buses, and forklifts, and its financial services arm is a major profit center. Headquartered in Toyota City, Japan, with about 380,000 employees and annual revenue near ¥45 trillion (US$300 billion), Toyota's production system — just-in-time inventory, kaizen continuous improvement, and worker empowerment — is studied in every business school on earth. The company that started in a loom shed now defines how the world manufactures, and its bet on hybrids-plus-electrics is the auto industry's most closely watched strategy.
Also known as: Toyota
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Toyota make?+
Toyota is the world's largest automaker, selling over 10 million vehicles a year. Its lineup includes the Corolla, Camry, RAV4, Land Cruiser, the luxury Lexus brand, plus trucks, buses and forklifts.
Where is Toyota based?+
Toyota Motor Corporation is headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan, with about 380,000 employees and annual revenue near ¥45 trillion (US$300 billion).
Who founded Toyota?+
Toyota was founded by the Toyoda family of loom makers. Kiichiro Toyoda built the first cars, backed by the automatic-loom patent of his father Sakichi Toyoda, and the company's origins trace to a 1926 loom invention.
How did Toyota start?+
Toyota began in a loom factory — Sakichi Toyoda's 1926 automatic loom. The loom's philosophy of stopping defects became the Toyota Production System that reshaped global manufacturing.
