Communications and Media

Vehicles were originally sold by Toyota under the name  Toyoda  (000), from the family name of the companys founder, KiichirM Toyoda. In September 1936, the company ran a public competition to design a new logo. Out of 27,000 entries the winning entry was the three Japanese katakana letters for  Toyoda  in a circle. But RisaburM Toyoda, preferred  Toyota  (000) because it took eight brush strokes to write in Japanese, was visually simpler and had a voiceless consonant instead of a voiced one.

With the newly formed word trademarked, the company was registered in August 1937 as the Toyota Motor Company. Since, Toyoda literally means fertile rice paddies, changing the name also helped to distance the company from associations with old-fashioned farming. From September 1947, Toyotas small-sized vehicles were sold under the name Toyopet. The first vehicle was the Toyopet SA but other vehicles such as the Toyopet SB light truck, Toyopet Stout light truck, Toyopet Crown and the Toyopet Corona followed soon. But, when Toyota entered the American market in 1957 with the Crown, the name was not well received and was soon dropped due to connotations of toys and pets, but continued in other markets until the mid 1960s.

Company overview
The Toyota Motor Company which received its first Japanese Quality Control Award at the start of the 1980s began participating in a wide variety of motor sports. Due to the 1973 oil crisis, consumers in the lucrative U.S. market began turning to small cars with better fuel economy and Toyota was in demand. In response to the Chicken tax of 1964 which placed a 25 tax on imported light trucks, Toyota began building plants in the U.S. by the early eighties which led to the birth of the Toyota Motor Corporation. In a joint venture with General Motors called NUMMI- New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc, operating in Fremont, California, Toyota started to establish new brands and Lexus was born in1989. In the 1990s, Toyota began to branch out adding many larger and luxurious vehicles including a full-sized pickup, the T100 (and later the Tundra) SUVs a sport version of the Camry- Camry Solara and the Scion brand, affordable yet sporty, targeting the youth. The worlds best-selling hybrid car- the Prius was manufactured in 1997.

Several bases were set up all over the world. TMME-Toyota Motor Europe Marketing  Engineering was set up in Europe, TMUK in United Kingdom, Indiana, Virginia and Tianjin were set up. In 1999, the company listed itself on the New York and London Stock Exchanges. However, the UFJ- United Financials of Japan, a merger of Toyotas Toyo Trust and Banking faced several corruption charges. As a result of Japans banking crisis, the UFJ merged again to become Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.

The entry in Formula One works team in 2002 helped them to produce cars in France as they established joint ventures with Citron and Peugeot. Toyota ranked eighth on Forbes 2000 and was number one in global automobile sales for the first quarter of 2008. In 2007, Toyota released an update of its full size truck, the Tundra and Motor Trend named the Tundra Truck of the Year, and the 2007 Toyota Camry Car of the Year for 2007. The company has also found recent success with its smaller models-the Corolla and Yaris.

Logo and branding
In 1936, Toyota entered the passenger car market with its Model AA. After receiving 27,000 entries, with the competition that it held for a new logo, one was selected that resulted in a change of its moniker to Toyota from the family name Toyoda. As, there were no guidelines for the use of the brand name, TOYOTA, it led to inconsistencies in its worldwide marketing campaigns. To remedy this, Toyota introduced a new worldwide logo in 1989. There are three ovals in the new logo that combine to form the letter T, which stands for Toyota. The overlapping of the two perpendicular ovals inside the larger oval represent the mutually beneficial relationship and trust that is placed between the customer and the company while the larger oval that surrounds both of these inner ovals represent the global expansion of Toyotas technology and unlimited potential for the future.

Operations
Toyota is large Multinational Corporation today and by displacing GM, it was worlds largest automobile maker for the year 2008. The world headquarters of Toyota are located in its home country in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. Toyota brands include Scion and the Lexus. Toyota also owns majority stakes in Daihatsu and 16.7 of Fuji Heavy Industries and has acquired 5.9 of Isuzu Motors Ltd. In 2005, Toyota, combined with its half-owned subsidiary Daihatsu Motor Company, produced 8.54 million vehicles, about 500,000 fewer than the number produced by GM that year. Toyota has a large market share in the United States, but a small market share in Europe. It also sells vehicles in Africa and is a market leader in Australia. Due to its Daihatsu subsidiary it has significant market shares in several fast-growing Southeast Asian countries. Toyota Century Royal is the official state car of the Japanese imperial family that is for the current Emperor of Japan. Toyota was hit by the global financial crisis of 2008 as it was forced in December 2008 to forecast its first annual loss in 70 years. In January 2009 it announced the closure of all of its Japanese plants for 11 days to reduce output and stocks of unsold vehicles. Akio Toyoda became the new president and CEO of the company on June 23, 2009 by replacing Katsuaki Watanabe who became the new vice chairman by replacing Katsuhiro Nakagawa.

Electric technology
Toyota is one of the largest companies to push hybrid vehicles in the market and the first to commercially mass-produce and sell such vehicles, an example being the Toyota Prius. The Company has provided this option on the main smaller cars such as Camry and Lexus divisions, producing some hybrid luxury vehicles. It labeled such technology in Toyota cars as Hybrid Synergy Drive and in Lexus versions as Lexus Hybrid Drive. The Prius has become the top selling hybrid car in America. Toyota, as a brand, now has three hybrid vehicles in its lineup the Prius, Highlander, and Camry. By 2030 Toyota plans to offer its entire lineup of cars, trucks, and SUVs with a Hybrid Synergy Drive option. Worldwide sales of hybrid vehicles produced by Toyota reached 1.0 million vehicles by May 31, 2007, and the 2.0 million mark was reached by August 31, 2009, with hybrids sold in 50 countries. Toyotas hybrid sales are led by the Prius, with worldwide cumulative sales of 1.43 million by August 2009. Hybrids are viewed by some automobile makers as a core segment of the future vehicle market.

Environmental record
The Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) implemented its Fourth Environmental Action Plan in 2005 which consisted of four major themes involving the environment and the corporations development, design, production and sales. The five-year plan is directed at the arrival of a revitalized recycling-based society. Toyota had previously released its Eco-Vehicle Assessment System (Eco-VAS) which is a systematic life cycle assessment of the effect a vehicle will have on the environment including production, usage and disposal. Since October 2006, Toyotas new Japanese-market vehicle models with automatic transmissions are equipped with an Eco Drive Indicator. When the vehicle is operated in a fuel-efficient manner the Eco Drive Indicator on the instrument panel will light up. The system takes into consideration rate of acceleration, engine and transmission efficiency and speed. Along with Toyotas eco-friendly objectives on production and use, the company plans to donate 1 million and five vehicles to the Everglades National Park. The money will be used to fund environmental programs at the park. This donation is part of a program which provides 5 million and 23 vehicles for five national parks and the National Parks Foundation.