Home Part 2: The Last 100 years 8: Car Manufacturers by Country 8.11 Japan 8.11.12. Toyota History of Toyota Motor Cars / Automobiles 8.11.12.  Toyota The Toyota Motor Corporation was formed when a textile machinery manufacturing company, owned by Sakichi Toyoda, created a new division to produce cars.   The corporation produced its first engine in 1934 and a prototype car, the model A1, the following year. In 1936 production of the model AA car started.    In 1937 the Toyota Motor Company was established as an independent company and by 1944 it had produced nearly 2,000 cars.   It is believed that the name was changed from “Toyoda” to “Toyota” because 8 is a lucky number in Japan and that is how many strokes it takes to write “Toyota” in Japanese (Katakana) script. The first car the company was allowed to produce after World War 2 was the Type SA.  This was followed in 1949 by the Type D, a taxi car with a top speed of only 47 mph (75 kph) , and the Crown in 1955.  The Toyota Corolla E10 series was first introduced in October 1966. Two and four door sedans and a coupe version were available, with a 1.1 or 1.2 litre engine. The following month the first model was exported to Australia.  The fourth generation model was produced from 1979 to 1983. In 1980 daily production averaged a record 2,346 cars.  The fifth generation models, the E80 series that were produced from 1983 to 1987, were the most popular Corolla cars, with some 3.3 million made.  In 1997 the Corolla became the best selling car in the world, with over 30 million sold as of 2007. See Part 2, The Last 100 Years, Section 1.4.  In addition to Japan, Corollas have been manufactured in 14 other countries; Brazil, Canada, China, Great Britain, India, Malaysia, Taiwan, Pakistan, Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, United States and Venezuela.   In October 2006 Toyota introduced the tenth generation Corolla; the E140 series. The Camry name was first used in 1980 with Toyota’s Celica Camry.   The first model line independently named the Toyota Camry was a compact, four-door sedan that was launched in 1982 for the 1983 model year.  Over the years coupe, hatchback and station wagon versions have been produced.  In 2007 the sixth generation Camry was being assembled in Australia, China, Japan and the United States.  In 1989 Toyota started production of the Lexus and by 2003 over 30 variants had been produced.  Other models produced by the company include the Celica, MR2, Supra, Prius, Avalon, Matrix and Yaris.   [ Back ]