TeamToyota automotive is one of the most famous brands in the world. If you own this brand or have brushed shoulders with it, you probably know a few things about it. We have put together interesting facts that will surprise you about Toyota. So, buckle up and delve into a few interesting facts about Toyota.
Toyota started as a textiles business
By 1924, Sakichi Toyoda, the founder of Toyota, had a successful venture manufacturing weaving and spinning machinery. Around that time, Sakichi developed Toyoda Model G Automatic Loom, which later led to Toyoda Automatic Loom Works Ltd, the now Toyota Industries Corporation.
Toyota made their first car in 1937
The automotive company built the first fleet of Toyota cars for war purposes in 1937. It was in 1947 when Toyota began the production of passenger vehicles and other specifically designed vehicles.
Toyoda is the original name of Toyota
To keep the family name, the automated loom company first adopted the name ‘Toyoda.’ Later, they changed the spelling to ‘Toyota.’ Toyoda has the same number of letters in English. But, in the Japanese script, it took more than eight strokes to write. However, Toyota only took eight strokes in Katana, which was believed to be a good sign.
The East Asian culture believes that the number eight signifies luck and fortune. And to achieve the number eight, the family changed the second last from D to T.
Japan Has a City Called Toyota
In 1959, a Japanese city called Korona changed its name to Toyota to honor the most successful business in Japan. And in 2015, Toyota city had close to 70,000 people, with 40% of the population working in Toyota company. This is to say Toyota company controls the economy of this city.
Toyota Was The First Company to Hit 10 Million Cars in One Year in Terms of Production
The Toyota brand is durable that close to 80% of Toyotas sold 20 years ago still operate and are active on the road. On the other hand, not many car brands can sustain such a period of active operation.
In 2013, the company hit the 10 million mark on the year. Most importantly, the Toyota hybrid version outsold every other vehicle in Australia in the year 2020.
Toyota Is a Family Business
Toyota is still owned and managed by the descendants of Sikichi Toyoda. The company’s current CEO, Akio Toyoda, is a direct descendant of the company’s founder
Torque Toyota Sanitizes An Average Of 6.6 Million Car Air Conditioners Every Day!
In the past 12 months, Toyota has sanitized over 2,400 air conditioners. Plus, the number has been steadily rising each year. The purpose of this treatment is to kill nasty germs and keep the air in your Toyota car to smell great.
Korean War Saved Toyota Company
Whether you are the winner or loser, nothing good ever comes out of war. However, the same cannot be said for Toyota. The car company was one of the biggest benefactors of the Korean war.
The Korean War remains one of the biggest things to have happened to the company. Toyota was on the verge of going bankrupt in 1949, producing only 300 trucks in June the same year. However, a few months after the war, the US government ordered 5000 vehicles from the company, which was 16 times higher than their usual annual sales.
Bluetooth Mandatory
Bluetooth technology has become prominent in modern cars. Therefore, more and more countries have laws that don’t allow drivers to take phone calls while in the driving seat. Toyota is the first to make it mandatory for all their vehicles to have Bluetooth technology. The technology allows drivers to take calls without necessarily holding their phones to the ear.
Toyota got Their First Idea from the United States
Kiichiro Toyoda got ideas for the first Toyota cars from the US. Japan needed to start a domestic production of vehicles to cater to its war with China. As a result, Kiichiro traveled to the US in 1929 to investigate automobile production. Toyota’s early cars have a remarkable resemblence to Chevrolet and Dodge Power Wagon.
Conclusion
In 2017, Fortune Magazine named Toyota the world’s most admired company for the third year in a row. Considering Toyota’s annual revenue is more than that of Honda and Nissan combined, it is no surprise they have managed to win many accolades.
Toyota has been and will continue to be one of the most reliable and popular cars in the automotive industry. In 2015, the Toyota company announced it would spend $1 billion in AI and robot research. This means that the brand is set to grow even bigger in the near future.
