Toyota is one of the leading manufacturers for automotive products. The company was established in the year 1937 in Japan and was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda as a division of Toyoda Automatic Loom Works. The founder of the company got the first idea of the first Toyota cars after his visit to the United States. Kiichiro Toyoda had traveled to the United States to investigate the production of automobile products. This was because Japan needed to start producing domestic products after their war in China. The company almost went bankrupt during its early stages and was saved by the Korean War. Toyota had produced only 300 trucks by June 1950. Within the first few months after the start of the Korean War, the United States ordered more than 5,000 vehicles form the company and it was revived (Monden, 2011).
Toyota later came to the United States in 1957. The company has since grown to manufacture and sell several vehicles in different parts of the world. Toyota considers itself as an innovative leader in the automotive industry. Toyota grew in popularity all over the world and became the top automotive manufacturer in the world. The company was ranked as the largest manufacturer of vehicles in production in the year 2016 with more than 10 million units of vehicles sold (Monden, 2011).
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Rationale for choosing Toyota
Toyota is the company of choice for the project because it has a long history and is highly innovative in the manufacture of vehicles. The company has a rich history since it was established in the year 1937. The company has experienced almost all challenges pertaining to the automotive industry and managed to rise above them. The surmounting of these challenges has made Toyota become the world leader in the manufacture of automotive products.
The nature of innovation in the company has seen it manufacture products that are durable and of high quality. Eight percent of Toyota vehicles that were sold 20 years ago are still functioning and are on the road today. This is highly beneficial for consumers because it improves on savings as the vehicle can last. Toyota has a hallmark of producing vehicles that safe, quality, and durable. Toyota also interests me because it is one of the leading companies in ensuring green automotive products are in the market. It is the world’s leading manufacturer of hybrid vehicles and there are more than 1,500,000 hybrid vehicles currently on the road. Toyota is highly innovative and leads in green technology ("Toyota Sells 1.52 Million Electrified Vehicles in 2017").
The quality issue of the company
Toyota Motor Co. recalled 4.3 million vehicles in the year 2009 as a result of a malfunctioning of its gas pedals and accelerator. The first recall of the company was made in August 2009 after the company’s vehicles’ doormats were not positioned correctly. The result was a crash in California which occurred when the driver’s accelerator got stuck due to faulty floor mats which resulted in the driver’s death. The quality problems in Toyota became widely known resulting in the recall of vehicles for problems with the floor mats in the year 2009. Since then, the company has recalled more than 20 million cars (Cole, 2011).
Toyota lacked attention to its mounting problems such as the accelerator and the broken brake system. These recalls show poor management in the company and cost the company billions of dollars and its reputation. Even after the recalls of the millions of Toyotas, consumers were still unsure about whether the company was handling the crisis adequately. However, the company reorganized in 2013 where it had a change in its organizational culture that led to a change in the company’s overall structure. The company invested more in research and development to ensure that its products were optimum quality.
References
Cole, R. E. (2011). What really happened to Toyota?. MIT Sloan Management Review , 52 (4), 29.
Monden, Y. (2011). Toyota production system: an integrated approach to just-in-time . Productivity Press.
"Toyota Sells 1.52 Million Electrified Vehicles In 2017". TOYOTA Global Newsroom , 2018, https://newsroom.toyota.co.jp/en/corporate/20966057.html. Accessed 10 Nov 2018
