Before the World War II, Japan's motor industry was
dominated by the US Big Three - General Motors, Ford and
Chrysler. The Toyoda family had been making weaving machinery
since 1926, but in 1933 they started to recruit personnel, mainly
from GM, to form a small car division.
Toyota's first car, in 1935, was an unashamed copy
of the Chrysler Airflow, with the 3.4-litre six-cylinder engine
cribbed from Chevrolet. A year later the name of the cars was
changed to Toyota: the pictogram needed just eight brush strokes
against the 10 required to form Toyoda.
After WW2 the US occupation forces restricted production, but in 1955 Toyota launched its first totally domestically produced model, the 1.5-litre Crown. Two years later two Crowns were exported to the United States - and five years later production had passed the million mark. At the 1965 London Motor Show Motor Imports Ltd took the wraps off the 1.5-litre Corona. The car cost shade over Ј777, but unlike almost every European rival, it came with radio, heater, screenwashers, cigarette lighter and clock.
Toyota also brought something new to Europe - reliability. The Corona was replaced by the Corolla, which was to become the best-selling name in world motor industry history. The first really successful sports model was the MR2, launched in 1984. It was complemented by the Celica in 1983, with the turbocharged, 4wd version taking Bjorn Waldegard to victory in the Ivory Coast and Safari rallies.
While the small and medium car ranges prospered, with total sales by the mid-1980s placing it No 3 in world rankings, behind GM and Ford, the large car sector was less rewarding. The Crown was meant to be a challenge to Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar. What is gained in equipment - air conditioning were standard in the early 1970s, looks and handling left a lot of be desired.
Toyota launched its first MPV, the big Previa, in 1990; in 1997 this was joined by the smaller Picnic. The new Corolla, also launched this year, is the umpteenth version of the model name first used back in 1966.