zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Culture
/
This Day In History: Toyota Founder Dies
This Day In History: Toyota Founder Dies-July 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:12:24

Image for article titled This Day In History: Toyota Founder Dies

On March 27, 1952, Kiichiro Toyoda died. He was the man responsible for transforming his father’s textile machinery business into what grew to become the world’s largest automaker: Toyota.

(Welcome to Today in History, the series where we dive into important historical events that have had a significant impact on the automotive or racing world. If you have something you’d like to see that falls on an upcoming weekend, let me know at eblackstock [at] jalopnik [dot] com.)

You read that right. Toyota wasn’t initially created as a car company. Sakichi Toyoda, called “Japan’s Thomas Edison,” invented the automatic loom, and he hired his son at the company when Kiichiro was old enough to work there.

But Kiichiro Toyoda had other plans. By the late 1920s, he was dreaming up different cars, and in 1933, he established an automobile division of his father’s company. Two years later, he had released two cars.

So, where did the name “Toyota” come from? According to , it was easier to spell in Japanese characters and was considered luckier because it could be written with eight strokes of the pen.

Whatever luck was imbued in the name paid off, because Toyota grew to accomplish great things despite a rocky start. Ford and GM had built factories in Japan in the 1920s, so Toyoda drew his inspiration for some of his first cars from his American competitors by literally buying local Ford or GM products and reverse engineering them. As a result, the company’s first real car, the AA, looked like a knockoff Chevy sedan. But people were into it—they liked the fact that they could buy a Japanese-built car, and Toyoda is said to have paved the way for Japanese automakers in a critical time before American motor companies could completely dominate production.

That said, things quickly went south. The company was forced to take a break during World War II and didn’t resume production again until 1947, at which point materials were hard to source and people just didn’t have the money to buy them.

Despite his death coming two years later, Toyoda resigned from the company in 1950. The company was going out of business, and the auto union went on a strike that lasted two months due to layoffs and wage reductions. He was succeeded by Tazio Ishida, who had been the chief executive of the Toyoda Automatic Loom company. In 1957, Toyoda’s cousin Eiji Toyoda took over.

Because of his early death at age 57, Kiichiro Toyoda never saw his company make its rebound. The Korean War saw the American military putting in orders for Japanese-made vehicles, which kick-started the auto industry. In 1957, the Crown became the first Japanese vehicle imported to the United States. In the 1960s, Toyota began to expand its manufacturing efforts into other countries. By the 1980s, Toyota was building cars in the US and pursuing a global motorsport effort. In 2008, it became the world’s largest automaker.

It all happened after Toyoda’s death, but his legacy still lives on in the name and roots he endowed to the company. It turned out to be quite lucky indeed.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Culture
QOTD: Which One Do You Want Back?
QOTD: Which One Do You Want Back?
When it comes to cars, I’m more of a hoarder than a flipper. Once something enters my orbit, I’m more inclined to hang on. There are, of course, exceptions. When I was a freshman in college, I bought a 1991 Volkswagen GTI 8V. Cosmetically, it was OK, and it...
Jul 9, 2025
Mercedes Says An Answer To The Porsche Taycan Is Coming
Mercedes Says An Answer To The Porsche Taycan Is Coming
Mercedes is , but Mercedes is still Mercedes, meaning that even if Porsche is out here with the Taycan and Tesla is out here with the Model S Mercedes still has the financial might to catch up. In interviews this week, its executives say that that’s exactly what they’re...
Jul 9, 2025
Over 25 Percent Of US EV Owners Install High-Voltage Chargers On Their Own
Over 25 Percent Of US EV Owners Install High-Voltage Chargers On Their Own
Are you confident enough in your DIY skills that you’d feel comfortable installing a high-voltage charging station in your home to maintain your electric vehicle? A recent survey shows that 25.5 percent of Americans that own an electric car with a Level 2 charger think they are. The study...
Jul 9, 2025
Fiat And Peugeot's Merger Finally Gets The Green Light
Fiat And Peugeot's Merger Finally Gets The Green Light
Fiat and PSA’s merger is good to go, Hyundai had a bad quarter, and Jeep. All that and more in for October 26, 2020. (: Some of the links below are to paywalled stories. Pay for the journalism you value!) The two companies for some time now, in a...
Jul 9, 2025
James May Bought Half A Pub And Needs You To Name The Bathrooms
James May Bought Half A Pub And Needs You To Name The Bathrooms
, former host of and current co-host of , has invested in a pub during one of the worst moments in history imaginable to do such a thing, but his main concern is renaming the restrooms. May’s new pub looks nice. It’s called the Royal Oak, an 18th Century...
Jul 9, 2025
How Bad Are The Drivers In Your State? This New Study Has An Answer
How Bad Are The Drivers In Your State? This New Study Has An Answer
I’m fairly certain that everyone is convinced their state has the worst drivers. I’ve lived in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Texas, and I’ve felt that each of those states had to be populated by the worst drivers in the world. I’ve driven across the country countless times and found myself...
Jul 9, 2025
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved