Toyota Motors: A Journey From 1933 to Modern Day - Essay Sample

Introduction

Toyota motors is a Japanese company that was initiated back in 1933 by Toyoda Kiichiro, Sakichi's son. The company began as Toyoda but later changed its brand name to Toyota (Cusumano, 1985). The company has continued to leap to greater heights since its origin to whom it is today. It has taken a lot of determination and commitment to maintaining the brand name and ensuring it satisfy the wants of their buyers.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

In 1936, the company released its first car model, A.A. sedan. In 1941 and 1945, Toyota company established other related companies, which included Toyoda Machine Works and Toyota Auto Body limited companies, respectively. After world war 11, the company got forced to close temporarily since the facilities got destroyed, and by this time, the economy of Japan was chaotic. After the economy stabilized a bit in the 1950s, the company was back again in its normal operations (Cusumano, 1985).

For the company for upgrading its operations in the market, it drew its focus to studying automotive manufacturers of America who got believed to be superior in the United States. The executive of the Toyota company planned a visit to companies like Ford Motor, where they were noting the technology used in their production processes and later implemented the same on their Toyota company. The efficiency of their cars got observed to increase drastically. In the year 1957, the Toyota company established its branch in the U.S. A, and the Toyopet sedan motor model was then released a year after Cusumano, 1985). The new brand lacked horsepower and was selling at a very high price, which discouraged the buyers from purchasing it.

However, the company never gave up but redesigned the Toyopet model to Toyota Corona and re-released it to the market in the year 1965 (Cusumano, 1985). This was indeed the first significant victory for the Toyota motors and got awarded the Deming Prize for emerging the top in the United States. It much motivated them and made them stronger. The company purposed on improving the quality of the motors it produced by following up on the Deming judges' points to the mark. In 1966 in February, a committee that incorporated 8 Toyota companies was established to discuss matters which will improve the quality of their products. Through this initiative, Toyota was awarded a medal for the good quality motors they produced in Japan in the year 1970 (Cusumano, 1985).

Besides, more policies were put into place, which majorly focused on becoming a global brand. To achieve this, the company had to focus on utilizing its resources properly, make sure it produces products of high quality always, make sure their products are affordable as well as study the market first to identify the customers' preferences. A program for improving management capabilities was put into practice which was to run for two years, and all the managers plus the whole department given the mandate of airing out their suggestions regarding the various measures they think should get implemented to improve further the company's produce (Udagawa, 1995). The process was vital since the success of the business depends too on the management system. Taking the fact that most of the managers in the section were absent during the Deming prize screening, the program was thus vital.

However, in the 60s and 70s, a rapid increase in the market share of Toyota was witnessed, and it was in this tenure that the company merged with other foreign markets where it began selling their automobile to them at relatively low prices. The company gained most customers since it was producing quality vehicles that were affordable and consumed less fuel, thus making them economical (Udagawa, 1995).

New United Motor Manufacturing is the new name that Toyota uses today and was obtained back in 1982 when it decided to merge with one of the dual-brand plants based in California, General Motors Corporation, and initiated its production in the U.S. in 1986 (Udagawa, 1995). In the year 1983, the study group for quality control got held for the first time, and it was after Schoichiro Toyoda, the president of the promotion department, issued a policy to all team managers to undergo the training. It was until then that annual meetings for all executive members was implemented and is still in practice to date.

In the 21st century, the company encountered significant growth than never before. It was due to its improved innovations like, for instance, in the case of Lexus, a luxury brand innovated in 1989 and production of the hybrid vehicle in 1997 (Udagawa, 1995). As a result of the significant improvement, the company found itself listed in both the New York and London Stock Exchange. Toyota company proceeded its expansion to find new markets, and its primary focus is the younger demographic. In 2008 however, the company experienced some financial setbacks which affected their sales (Udagawa, 1995).

Conclusion

In conclusion, from the above history and development of Toyota company, it has indeed achieved more since it began, and its management has aided more to its success. Toyota has continued to grow with years and has emerged among the best in the current market. The management of a company contributes to its success and growth.

References

Cusumano, M. A. (1985). The Japanese automobile industry: Technology and Management at Nissan and Toyota. Retrieved from https://elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=7426123

Udagawa, M. (1995). The development of production management at the Toyota Motor Corporation. Business History, 37(2), 107-120. Retrieved from https://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA16886993&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=00076791&p=AONE&sw=w