Unless you have been living under a rock, you should know that Toyota is one of the best-selling car brands in the world! The Toyota dealer near Anaheim lost count on the number of Toyota vehicles he has sold over the years. In fact, it is too many to count!
No matter who you are, even if you aren’t a car fanatic, you can think of an image or a specific model when you hear the name ‘Toyota’. However, many people started to wonder where did Toyota begin? What are the company’s origins? How did they become one of the best-selling car manufacturing worldwide? Is Toyota a Japanese car company?
We want to answers all these questions and a few more, so let’s delve into this legendary automaker’s vast and interesting history.
Do You Know It Was First Called The Toyoda Group
When the company first started, it wasn’t even a car company. It worked with automatic looms. For those of you who don’t know, the Toyota dealer near Anaheim tells us that looms are used in the textile industry to manufacture fabrics. Also, the company wasn’t called Toyota back then, it was known as Toyoda – Toyota Automatic Loom Works to be exact.
The founder of the original Toyota group was the father of Toyota’s founder and his name was Kiichiro Toyoda. When Kiichiro came back from a tour and his studies in the United States and Europe he had acquired enough knowledge about the production of cars.
According to the Toyota dealer near Anaheim, Toyota of Orange, that is how the history of the Toyota automobile company started. He had learned about the gas-powered engine and picked up on the way the automobile industry worked at the time.
In 1933 the division of Toyoda Automatic Loom Works start to allocate time and resources to the production of cars. This new division was managed by Kiichiro Toyoda.
What Was The First Toyota?
Based on the facts presented, the Toyota automobile’s original predecessor is a loom. The Toyoda group’s first vehicle, in spite of this, was strongly encouraged into development by the Japanese government. At the time, Japan required domestic vehicle production because of the ongoing war with China.
In 1934, the Type A Engine, which was Toyota’s first engine, was produced for the first Model A1. This Toyota passenger car was launched in 1935. A fun fact we found out is that some modern passenger cars such as the Camry hold the Model A1 in their DNA.
Afterward, in 1936 Toyota started production of the Model AA. Another fun fact is that the earliest Toyota vehicles were conspicuously similar to competitive American vehicles at the time. Also, these models even had some interchangeable parts with the American vehicles that brought about the inspiration for the new cars designed by the new Japanese auto company.
What Was The First Toyota Truck?
As Toyota established itself as a reliable and trustworthy car company it started to branch out further. Notably, the car company began to manufacture trucks that stringy appealed to the North American market.
Today, Toyota trucks are very popular. The Toyota Tundra, Toyota Tacoma, and the Toyota Hilux are responsible for a massive section of Toyota’s global sales. Besides Toyota’s trucks, even the SUVs under the Toyota brand are hugely loved and make a significant part of the car company’s family.
Robust SUVs such as the 4Runner and the Sequoia help provide the Toyota brand with a good reputation. However, when did the Japanese car company make its first truck? The answer: The G1 truck made its first appearance in the automobile world in August of 1935.
Where Did The Name ’Toyota’ Come From?
Obviously, the name ‘Toyota’ came from the family surname and founding father company ‘Toyoda’. Nevertheless, why did they feel that they had to change the name from Toyoda to Toyota?
Apparently, when you write Japanese characters, Toyota can be written out in eight strokes. So, the company decided to take up this spelling in 1937. Also, ancient Japanese culture commemorates the number 8 as a lucky number, to such a degree as to bring hope and luck to the country as well as the company.
What Is Toyota’s Best-Selling Vehicle?
Toyota has made many vehicles over the years, but there are a few that stand out as favorites. Can you guess which are?
For the 2020 year, Toyota’s third best-selling car was the Corolla. It is a well-liked car for its reliability and practicality. Also, the Corolla is very attractive for its affordable price point.
The second best-selling Toyota is the Camry. The vehicle has smooth and responsive handling. Many drivers are happy with the base engine, but if they want more pep they can go for the optional engine. The Camry is also exceptional as a fuel-efficient car and it is also available as a hybrid.
Surprisingly, the top-selling Toyota is the RAV4. The current RAV4 features a 203-hp 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine and an eight-speed automatic transmission. The RAV4 is well-known, especially for its long list of standard features, comfortable ride quality, and fuel economy. Plus, Toyota made things more exciting by introducing an off-road-oriented RAV4 model.
The regular RAV4 has a fuel economy rating of up to 30 mpg overall, which is very good for the class. If fuel economy is important to you, there’s also a hybridized version. You might even want to think about purchasing the all-new RAV4 Prime, which is a plug-in hybrid.
Is Toyota Japanese?
Yes, Toyota is undoubtedly a Japanese car company. Throughout the years, the Toyota brand has increased in popularity and revels in an excellent reputation for dependability and reliability of its vehicles.
Presently, the headquarters still remains in Japan. Also, there is the Honsha plant, which is Toyota’s second mass-production plant and the Toyota Technical Center is situated near the car manufacturer’s headquarters.
Toyota has gone from manufacturing textiles, producing military trucks in World War II, to the post-war passenger car the SA.
The company has a strong global presence in the automotive industry and continues to innovate and is moving toward the future.