What is Toyota?
A: Toyota Motor Corporation is a Japanese multinational automotive
manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi,
Japan.
It was founded by whom?
A: Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28,
1937.
Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers
in the world, producing how many vehicles per year?
A: About 10 million.
The company was originally founded as a spinoff of what
company?
A: Toyota Industries, a machine maker started by Sakichi Toyoda, Kiichiro's
father.
Both companies are now part of what?
A: The Toyota Group, one of the largest conglomerates in the world.
While still a department of Toyota Industries, the
company developed its first product, what?
A: The Type A engine in 1934 and its first passenger car in
1936, the Toyota
AA.
After World War II, Toyota benefited from Japan's
alliance with the United States to learn from American automakers and other
companies, which would give rise to what?
A: The Toyota Way (a management philosophy) and the Toyota Production System
(a lean manufacturing practice) that would transform the small company into
a leader in the industry and would be the subject of many academic studies.
In the 1960s, Toyota took advantage of a rapidly
growing Japanese economy to do what?
A: To sell cars to a growing middle-class, leading to the development of the
Toyota Corolla.
The Corolla would go on to become what?
A: The world's all-time best-selling automobile.
The booming economy also funded an international
expansion that would allow Toyota to do what?
A: To grow into one of the largest automakers in the world, the largest
company in Japan and the ninth-largest company in the world by revenue, as
of December 2020.
Toyota was the world's first automobile manufacturer to
produce more than 10 million vehicles per year, a record set when?
A: In 2012, when it also reported the production of its 200 millionth
vehicle.
Toyota was praised for being a leader in the
development and sales of more what?
A: Fuel-efficient hybrid electric vehicles, starting with the introduction
of the Toyota Prius in 1997.
The company now sells how many hybrid vehicle models
around the world?
A: More than 40.
However, more recently, the company has also been
accused of greenwashing for its what?
A: Its skepticism of all-electric vehicles and its focus on the development
of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
As of 2022, the Toyota Motor Corporation produces
vehicles under what four brands?
A: Daihatsu, Hino, Lexus and the namesake Toyota.
The company also holds what?
A: A 20% stake in Subaru Corporation, a 5.1% stake in Mazda, a 4.9% stake in
Suzuki, a 4.6% stake in Isuzu, a 3.8% stake in Yamaha Motor Corporation, and
a 2.8% stake in Panasonic.
Toyota is listed on the London Stock Exchange, Nagoya
Stock Exchange, New York Stock Exchange and on the Tokyo Stock Exchange,
where its stock is a component of what?
A: The Nikkei 225 and TOPIX Core30 indices.