Who Has Toyota Funded Before?

Toyota’s automotive division, which may be further broken down into distinct subsegments based on brand and geographic focus, accounts for the vast bulk of the company’s revenue. The business also generates money through a third, much smaller arm that specializes in unrelated business, as well as through its financial services division.

Toyota’s Automotive Business

Each separate business unit within Toyota’s automobile division strives to represent streamlined Japanese efficiency. The company’s famed luxury brand, Lexus, is the first and most successful of those.

Lexus celebrated selling 10 million vehicles in 2019. Despite being a Japanese company, Lexus sells a wildly disproportionate amount of its cars in the United States, with annual sales in North America hovering around 300,000.

Fast Fact

With 2.1 million vehicles delivered in 2020, the United States will be the largest market for the Toyota brand (including Lexus). With 1.8 million automobiles sold, China came in second, followed by Japan with 1.5 million sales.

The Lexus brand was established in the early 1990s as a rival to emerging luxury brands from other mass-market Japanese automakers, like Honda’s Acura and Nissan’s Infiniti. A generation later, Lexus has overtaken these companies and is now directly competing with Mercedes-Benz and BMW in the luxury market. Success for Lexus at the next level hasn’t exactly come easily so far.

The company also includes sections for the sale of cars according to regions. For instance, the Texas-based holding company Toyota Motor North America designs, manufactures, and markets specific Toyota vehicles in North America. Toyota’s Camry was the best-selling sedan so far in 2021 and the sixth-best-selling car overall in the United States in 2020.

Toyota’s Financial Services Business

Toyota generates a relatively tiny amount of its revenue from its financial activities, compared to certain other big automakers. Although Toyota’s financial services segment is expanding more quickly than auto sales, the firm still prioritizes lending over manufacturing. In the fiscal year 2021, automotive operations made up 90.5% of global sales revenue while financial services made up just 7.9%.

A division of Toyota, Toyota Financial Services, specializes in credit cards, auto financing, and other related services. It works in almost 40 different nations.

Toyota’s Other Businesses

In addition to selling and financing cars, Toyota makes money through other business ventures and investments. The corporation owns shares in other automakers like Mazda, Isuzu, and Subaru.

Toyota was one of the top 50 most valuable businesses in the world as of 2021.

It also has interests in other industries, including aircraft, robotics, and biotechnology. Toyota has placed a lot of emphasis on the creation of hybrid electric vehicles and related technology over the past ten years.

Who has partnered with Toyota?

By 2020, Toyota will have surpassed Volkswagen to recover the title of biggest automaker in the world.

[71] Despite a global sales decline of 11.3% brought on by the COVID-19 epidemic, it nevertheless sold 9.528 million vehicles. [71] Subsidiaries like Daihatsu and Hino Motors are included in this. [71] [72]

The goal of BYD Toyota EV Technology Co., Ltd., a new joint venture between BYD and Toyota announced on April 2, 2020, is to “create BEVs (Battery Electric Vehicles) that appeal to customers.”

[73]

The formation of a strategic alliance between Toyota, its subsidiary Hino, and Isuzu was announced in March 2021. Toyota purchased a 4.6% stake in Isuzu, and Isuzu intends to buy Toyota shares for a comparable price. The goal of the new joint venture, which the three businesses stated they will establish by April and designate Commercial Japan Partnership Technologies Corporation, is to create fuel cell and electric light trucks. Hino and Isuzu would each control 10% of the company, giving Toyota an 80% ownership. [74]

Toyota said in April 2021 that it will pay $550 million to acquire Lyft’s self-driving technology section and combine it with its recently established Woven Planet Holdings automation group.

[75]

When Republican lawmakers in the United States voted against recognizing the results of the 2020 presidential election, the firm defended its donations to them in June 2021, stating it did not think it was “fair to criticize members of Congress” for that one vote.

[76] According to an Axios investigation, Toyota was by a wide margin the biggest donor to 2020 election objectors. [77] The corporation subsequently changed its tune and stopped supporting election objectors in July 2021. In a statement, it acknowledged that its PAC’s contributions to these objectors, which were significantly higher than those of any other company, “troubled certain stakeholders.” [78]

Toyota declared in December 2021 that it would invest 8,000,000,000,000 ($70 billion at the 2021 exchange rate) in EVs by 2030, introduce 30 EV models globally by then, and set a sales goal of 3.5 million EVs in 2030.

[79]

Beginning in the second quarter of 2022, Toyota will hire more software engineers, accounting for 40% to 50% of all technical hires. This move is intended to address the shift to so-called CASE (connected, autonomous, shared, and electric) technologies in a context of escalating international competition.

[80]

In response to the shortage of COVID-19 chips in 2021, Toyota instructed several of its vendors to increase their semiconductor inventory levels from the customary three months to five months.

[81] After the earthquake and tsunami in Japan on March 11, 2011, the “just-in-time” supply chain, in which parts are only delivered when necessary, had already been modified, elevating inventory throughout the whole procurement network. [81] Toyota’s inventory turnover time increased by about 40% during the previous ten years, reaching 36.36 days as of March 2021[update]. [81]

Which organisations receive donations from Toyota?

APIA Scholars, the Hispanic Scholarship Foundation, the Toyota West Dallas Scholarship, the Point Foundation, and the Rev.

What did Toyota do in World War Two?

In 1937, Toyota Motor Co. was founded as a stand-alone, autonomous business. The company name was changed to “Toyota” even though the founding family’s name was originally written in the Kanji ” (translated as “Toyoda”) since the latter contains 8 strokes, which is considered a lucky number in East Asian culture. [3] Given that Kanji are fundamentally Chinese characters, the business and its vehicles are still referred to in Chinese-speaking markets by their original Kanji names (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: fng tin), albeit with Chinese pronunciation.

Both Ford and GM had established plants in Japan where vehicles were imported from America in knockdown kits and locally assembled during the 1930s as the Japanese economy developed and grew. Ford opened a facility in Yokohama in March 1925, and GM began construction on a factory in Osaka in April 1927. With 28,000 automobiles produced in 1929, Ford and GM jointly controlled the majority of the Japanese automobile market. The business bought locally made GM and Ford goods, reverse engineered them, and hired engineers who had previously worked at the Japanese Ford and GM factories to produce the company’s first vehicle, the Toyota AA. [4]

For the Imperial Japanese Army’s trucks, the firm focused on truck construction during the Pacific War (World War II). Military trucks were kept as straightforward as possible due to the terrible shortages that existed in Japan. The vehicles, for instance, had a single headlight in the middle of the bonnet. The war came to an end just before the Allies were supposed to bomb the Toyota facilities in Aichi.

Who is Toyota’s principal rival?

Honda, a well-known brand in the automotive industry, has its headquarters in Japan and produces motorcycles, aviation, and power equipment. It leads the globe in the production of powerful automobiles. Honda not only designs, manufactures, and sells the vehicles, but also offers fantastic after-sales support to their clients.

About 14 million internal combustion engines are produced by the company annually; Honda is the largest internal combustion engine manufacturer. One of the company’s greatest achievements is the Research and Development division of Honda, which is exceptional and constantly working to produce fantastic vehicles. The designs are a huge hit with consumers.

To keep up with the demands of technology, each of their vehicles is likewise equipped with cutting-edge equipment. About 100 different car models are included in their extensive product line, along with other vehicles like bikes and scooters. Honda is regarded as one of the main rivals to Toyota because of their reputation and significant market share.

Is Toyota having money problems?

The estimated loss would result in a decline in Toyota operating income of 80% year over year, from $22.7 billion in 2020 to $4.6 billion in 2021. Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota, stated during a press conference that the virus “has caused us a deeper shock than the global financial crisis of 2008.”

Is Tesla still owned by Toyota?

In 2010, Toyota bought a $50 million interest in Tesla. In 2011, the two firms began working together to build the RAV4 electric vehicle, which they later sold for roughly 2,500 units over the course of three years despite misunderstandings and recalls. Toyota established its own division to create electric vehicles in 2016.

What insignificant battery business collaborates with Toyota?

On December 14, 2021, Toyota Motor Corporation vehicles are displayed at a conference on the company’s battery EV strategy in Tokyo, Japan. KIM KYUNG-HOON/REUTERS

BEVs are becoming more and more popular around the world, however some buyers are turned off by the fire dangers and quick battery deterioration.

Following allegations of fires, General Motors (GM.N) and Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) were compelled to recall EVs equipped with LG Energy Solution batteries last year.

At a test-drive event for the bZ4X sport utility vehicle (SUV) prototype last week, Masaya Yamamoto, a project manager at Toyota, said, “We concentrated on balancing three factors: cruising range, battery deterioration, and charging speed.”

BEVs normally take hours to charge, and adopting quick-charging techniques frequently results in the destruction of the battery’s cells due to overheating. This eventually results in a decrease in cruising range, which lowers a vehicle’s resale value.

Toyota claimed that the batteries it produces—which it developed with Panasonic Corp (6752.T)—include a unique coolant that resists electrical flow. In the event of a leak, battery packs are also designed to keep the cells and coolant apart.

According to Toyota, this and other advancements will result in the batteries for the new BEV series maintaining more than 90% of their capacity after ten years.

Toyota is thinking about solely selling EVs through “subscription” to consumers in Japan, where EV adoption has been sluggish, in an effort to allay concerns about battery life and resale value. In addition to additional advantages, the monthly price would pay for maintenance and battery replacement.

According to Toyota, the SUV model will begin to be sold in Japan and other significant countries in the middle of 2022.

Through an investment of 8 trillion yen ($70 billion) to electrify its vehicles, Toyota has set a target of selling 3.5 million BEVs yearly by the year 2030. View More

Satoshi Sugiyama and Maki Shiraki contributed to the reporting, and Chang-Ran Kim and Sherry Jacob-Phillips edited it.

Who is supplying Toyota with batteries?

The next year, Toyota Motor Corp. would introduce a compact all-electric sedan in China. Price and what it provides consumers indicate that Toyota will join the EV production revolution. What is known as follows.

Toyota Motor is acclaimed as the hybrid king of the world and has said that full electrification is not yet feasible on a global scale. Toyota has invested the majority of its resources in hybrid vehicles, giving them more time to investigate and create EV battery technology.

How is Toyota a good for society?

In order to increase the community’s capacity, the Toyota Community Foundation collaborates with important stakeholders to provide resources and funding. Traffic safety, education, the environment, and the local communities where we work are our main areas of concentration.

Toyota CSR: What is it?

Toyota offers CSR initiatives that concentrate on environmental objectives. Business sustainability and environmental conservation are the key environmental stakeholder interests. The Toyota Environmental Activities Grant Program is the company’s method of addressing these concerns.