Kiichiro Toyoda

Early Life

Kiichiro Toyoda founder of Toyota Motors was born on 11th June, 1894 in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. He was the son of Sakichi Toyoda. His father was a famous entrepreneur and an inventor. At the very early age he was a student of engineering at the university in Tokyo named University of Tokyo.He pursued a degree in the field of Mechanical Engineering. After completing his study there he moved to England for working. He worked for a textile machinery manufacturing company named Platt Brothers and Company. At that time this company was the leading manufacturer of machinery in textiles of England.

After England, he went to the United States of America. His purpose of going to the United States was to study and learn the techniques of manufacturing of American Machinery.

Kiichiro Toyoda Founder of Toyota Motor Corporation

Return to Home

After completing his training at the United States he moved back to his home town in Japan. His father was running a manufacturing company of looms with the name Toyoda Industries Corporation. His father’s business was very much successful in locality. After returning to home he was engaged in his father’s company. He worked for the improvement of engineering of looms. He also got some patents for his invention of a carding machine.

Research in Locomotives

After inventing that card machine his morale went high and he tried to increase his research work and started researching in locomotives. His way of researching was very strange. He used to dismantle an imported motorcycle and then again reassembled it. By doing this he came to understand the feasibility of engine of a charcoal-power.

Expanding to automotive industry

Kiichiro is said to have opened the path for the Japanese automobile industry, and he is credited for creating from scratch domestic cars that were superior to foreign cars. The differences between Japan and the United States in the automobile industry during World War II were quite large. In the early 1930s, Kiichiro proceeded with the development toward the domestic production of automobiles. In 1933, Toyota Industries Corporation set up an automobile department and began full-scale development of automobiles. However, the development of the car did not proceed smoothly. For instance, no one had experience in automobile manufacturing, so he gathered those who had experience in automobile manufacturing from across Japan.

Also, it took six months to manufacture the engine. Then, in May 1935, the first A1 passenger car was finally completed. After that, it produced AA passenger cars that improved the A1 type and GA trucks that improved the G1 type. Moreover, Toyota Industries Corporation was designated with the Nissan Motor Company in September as a licensed company under the Automotive Manufacturing Act. However, Kiichiro was worried that being selected as the licensed company would lead to the loss of the competitiveness of the automobile industry and it would cause the destruction of the Japanese automobile industry. In 1937, Toyota Motor Corporation was established and Kiichiro was elected as vice president.

Kiichiro's management was very good for mainly two reasons. First, He controlled and made the operation simpler in order to produce more cars on a shoestring. Specifically, in order to clarify the internal organization, the company was divided into seven divisions, and the purpose and jurisdiction of each division were clearly decided. Second, he reduced the risk of mass-produced cars by being involved not only in mass-produced cars but also in the manufacture of specialty cars.

In November 1938, the Koromo Factory was established, and it worked hard to manufacture automobiles. However, the problems of automobile quality and cost arose, and the management was put into a critical situation. To overcome this situation, Kiichiro solved those problems by taking prompt action and in-house manufacturing of automobile parts. In 1941, Kiichiro became president of Toyota Motor Industry.

Toyota Motors

Toyota Motors is a multinational company of Japan in the field of automobile manufacturing. It’s headquarter is located in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. This company manufactures automobiles. AD far as ranking is concerned it is at the fourteenth number in terms of revenue earning.In 2012 it was ranked as number first in terms of production. It also became the number first automobile company that has produced more than 10 million vehicles in a calendar year. In 2013 it was ranked as number one company in terms of market capitalization.

Today this company consisted of employees more than 333,489, working throughout the world.

Later Life

He became the President of the company in 1941. In 1950, due to war there was recession in Japan and the company was almost on the verge of bankruptcy. He dismissed so many workers form the work this caused his company a huge strike by its employees and he with some other top managers were compelled to resign from the company.

Death

He also remained as the Chairman of the Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan in the same year 1950. He died two years later on 27th March 1952 in Tokyo, Japan. His son became the executive of the company after his death.