Most of us probably think of Toyota in terms of its arrival in Ireland in the 1970s, or its eighties Corolla heyday, or its popularisation of the Prius Hybrid in the late nineties and early noughties. But, believe it or not, Toyota is 75 years old this year.
In the mid-1930s, a young Kiichiro Toyoda saw the potential of mass produced cars for the general public. Through several years of perseverance, he eventually convinced the textile manufacturer Toyoda Automatic Loom Works to create a new Automobile Department. Kiichiro’s strong convictions saw his small start-up department spin off from the Toyoda Enterprise into the Toyota Motor Company in 1937. Now, 75 years later, Toyota is present in more than 170 countries worldwide and has seen over 200 million cars roll off its production lines.
The ever-popular Toyota Corolla firmly holds onto the title of best sold car in automotive history after 11 generations and over 39 million units sold. Every day, men and women around the world at Toyota’s production facilities and offices continue to strive to make ever-better cars. It is with this ingrained spirit of continuous improvement, or kaizen in Japanese, based on The Toyota Way.
Marking the occasion when the 200 millionth Toyota vehicle rolled off the production line, Akio Toyoda, President of Toyota Motor Corporation, commented: “We are determined to make our cars even better, to continue to give our customers the best possible product. This is the common goal of our 300,000 Toyota staff members worldwide.”
As the official 75th anniversary of Toyota approaches on November 3, Toyota in Europe is embarking on a number of initiatives to honour the dedication of Toyota members around the world and throughout the past 75 years. And it's not just an aren't-we-great thing either, these initiatives are designed to express the company’s gratitude to customers, fans and car lovers by sharing Toyota’s long history with them.
In Paris, Toyota recently unveiled an exciting new exhibition at the marque’s flagship showroom on one of the world’s most famous streets, Avenue des Champs-Élysées. The new exhibit at Le Rendez-Vous Toyota showcases some of Toyota’s most cherished models throughout the past three quarters of a century in two different sizes.
Visitors can get up close and personal with a number of exquisitely preserved Toyota classics, including: 1958 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ25, 1964 Toyota Corona, 1965 Toyota Sports 800, 1967 Toyota 2000GT, 1968 Toyota Corolla Sprinter and 1970 Toyota Celica Coupé 1600 GT.
The display also includes an impressive collection of 1:43 scale models on loan to Le Rendez-Vous Toyota by a private collector. The collection on display ranges from the company’s first passenger car, the Toyota Model AA sedan, to motorsport icons like Ayrton Senna’s Toyota-powered 1983 British F3 championship winning car.
The Toyota 75 exhibition will be available to all visitors at Le Rendez-Vous Toyota until December.
Starting October 8, take a walk down memory lane with Toyota Europe and explore the company’s extensive history brought to life on Twitter. For 75 days representing every year of operations, fans can discover Toyota’s 75 year history, featuring archive materials gathered from around the world. Join the journey on Twitter by following @toyota_europe and look out for the #Toyota75 hashtag.
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