Toyota

Toyota Motor Corporation (Japanese: トヨタ自動車株式会社 Hepburn: Toyota Jidōsha KK, IPA: [toꜜjota], English: /tɔɪˈoʊtə/), usually shortened to Toyota, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. In 2017, Toyota's corporate structure consisted of 364,445 employees worldwide and, as of October 2017, was the fifth-largest company in the world by revenue. As of 2017, Toyota is the world's second-largest automotive manufacturer. Toyota was the world's first automobile manufacturer to produce more than 10 million vehicles per year which it has done since 2012, when it also reported the production of its 200-millionth vehicle. As of July 2014, Toyota was the largest listed company in Japan by market capitalization (worth more than twice as much as #2-ranked SoftBank) and by revenue.

Toyota is the world's market leader in sales of hybrid electric vehicles, and one of the largest companies to encourage the mass-market adoption of hybrid vehicles across the globe. Toyota is also a market leader in hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. Cumulative global sales of Toyota and Lexus hybrid passenger car models achieved the 10 million milestone in January 2017. Its Prius family is the world's top selling hybrid nameplate with over 6 million units sold worldwide as of January 2017.

The company was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in 1937, as a spinoff from his father's company Toyota Industries to create automobiles. Three years earlier, in 1934, while still a department of Toyota Industries, it created its first product, the Type A engine, and its first passenger car in 1936, the Toyota AA. Toyota Motor Corporation produces vehicles under five brands, including the Toyota brand, Hino, Lexus, Ranz, and Daihatsu. It also holds a 16.66% stake in Subaru Corporation, a 5.9% stake in Isuzu, as well as joint-ventures with two in China (GAC Toyota and Sichuan FAW Toyota Motor), one in India (Toyota Kirloskar), one in the Czech Republic (TPCA), along with several "nonautomotive" companies.[12] TMC is part of the Toyota Group, one of the largest conglomerates in Japan.

Stores
In Japan, Toyota currently maintains separate dealership sales channels. The first sales channel established in 1946 called "Toyota Store" (トヨタ店 Toyota Mise) sells large luxury sedans such as the Toyota Century, and the Toyota Crown. In 1955, the "Toyopet Store" (トヨペット店 Toyopetto-ten) arrived, originally established to sell the Toyota Corona and the Toyopet ToyoAce truck. (Toyota's five channel dealerships in Japan chronology in Japanese.) Toyota sought out to use a hierarchical marketing approach, similar to methods used in North America, but implemented it at all of its dealership chains, with some models being exclusive to particular locations.

Toyota operated a commercial dealership called Toyota Diesel Shop (トヨタディーゼル店 Toyota Dīzeru-ten) from 1957 until 1988 that sold various commercial platform trucks, buses, and forklifts, such as the Toyota Dyna and the Toyota Coaster. Hino products were sold at specific Hino locations and shared at Toyota Diesel Store locations after Toyota acquired the company in 1967. Starting in 1980, the Diesel Shop also sold the Starlet, Corolla, Corona, Vista, and Crown installed with diesel engines. When the Toyota Diesel Store was disbanded, commercial products were divided between Toyota Store and Toyopet Store locations.

Currently, the "Toyota Corolla Store" (トヨタカローラ店 Toyota Karōra-ten) was renamed from the "Toyota Publica Store" (トヨタパブリカ店 Toyota Paburika-ten), which was established to sell the Toyota Publica in 1961, then renamed to sell the Toyota Corolla in 1966.

In 1980, the "Toyota Vista Store" replaced the "Toyota Auto Store" (トヨタオート店 Toyota Ōto-ten) sales network that sold the Corolla companion, called the Toyota Sprinter established in 1967. The "Vista" name was used on a new Camry-clone, called the Toyota Vista. The Toyota Vista network was replaced with two networks; "Toyota NETZ" (ネッツ店 Nettsu-ten) in August 1998, and Lexus in 2004. Some former Vista models were rebranded as Lexus (レクサス Rekusasu), such as the Altezza and the Aristo, while other products have been taken over by the "Toyota NETZ", which was already selling the Toyota ist and the Toyota RAV4. "NETZ" is an acronym for "Network of Energetic Teams for Zenith".

In 2012, selected Japanese dealership locations were given a special designation called "Area 86" that resembled the North American Toyota network, called Scion, to sell the Toyota 86, building on the marketing approach started with WiLL branded products. As of 2017, the "Area 86" network was rebranded as "GR" for Gazoo Racing, sharing a similar approach to the performance division Toyota Racing Development or "TRD", providing various upgrades for the 86, Vitz, Prius, Mark X, Harrier, Noah and Voxy.