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Eiji Toyoda, born 12 September 1913, near Nagoya in Japan, is a prominent
Japanese industrialist, and is largely responsible for the success of car
manufacturer Toyota.
Born into a family of textile manufacturers, Eiji Toyoda studied
engineering at Tokyo Imperial University from 1933 to 1936. During this time
Toyoda's cousin Kiichiro established an automobile plant at the Toyoda
Automatic Loom Works. Toyoda joined his cousin in the plant at the
conclusion of his degree. In 1936 the company changed its name from Toyoda
Automatic Loom Works to Toyota, and its first cars rolled off the production
line that year, built from General Motors parts and components.
Japans entry into World War 2 in 1941 required that Toyotas production
capacity was redirected towards the manufacture of trucks for Japanese
imperial forces. At the conclusion of the war, Toyoda expected the
occupational force's restrictions on zaibatsu to affect Toyota. Instead,
Japan's reconstruction required the Toyota car plant to build vehicles to
assist in this task. Despite the boost in production, Toyota was close to
insolvency in the immediate post-war period, and was spared dissolution by
massive workforce reductions.
Toyoda visited Fords plant at Dearborn, Michigan during the early 1950s.
Toyota had been in the
business of the manufacture of cars for 13 years at
this stage, and had produced just over 2,500 automobiles. The Ford plant in
contrast manufactured 8,000 vehicles a day. Toyoda decided to adopt US
automobile mass production methods.
In 1960 Toyota proposed a joint venture with Ford to manufacture
automobiles in Japan. The original proposal was for a 40-40-20 deal, with 20
percent ownership allocated for the distributor in Japan. That was later
increased to allow Ford 50 percent, but again the deal was rejected for a
variety of reasons. Eiji Toyoda said that "Ford's method of turning us down
left a lot to be desired." Toyota attempted again in 1980, shortly before
the Reagan administration imposed voluntary restraint agreements on Japanese
auto imports.
Toyota then proposed joint production of automobiles in the United
States. "We attempted to form ties with Ford on a total of four occasions
before and after the war, and in each case nothing came of our efforts,"
Toyoda wrote. "I suppose that we were never meant to become partners." In
2001, Ford CEO Jacques Nasser met with Toyota CEO Hiroshi Okuda and proposed
a joint venture between the two companies in small car production.
In 1983, NUMMI (New United Motor Manufacturing) was opened as a joint
venture with General Motors and produces the Corolla and vehicles based on
it.
By 1955, Toyota had started mass producing the Crown, which was a success
in Japan, but had little impact on the US market upon its introduction in
1957. By the 1960s, however, Toyota Coronas and Corollas had achieved
substantial market penetration in the US. By 1975 Toyota had replaced
Volkswagen as the number one imported car in the United States.
In 1983, Toyoda decided to compete in the luxury car market, and by 1990
had introduced the Lexus.
Toyota is now the leading car manufacturer in Japan, and the third
biggest car maker in the world (behind General Motors and Ford).
Toyoda stepped down as president of Toyota in 1994.
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