Toyota Motor Corporation (Japanese: トヨタ自動車株式会社 Hepburn: Toyota Jidōsha KK?, IPA: [toꜜjota], /tɔɪˈoʊtə/) is a Japanese automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. In 2013 the multinational corporation consisted of 333,498 employees worldwide[4] and, as of January 2014, is the fourteenth-largest company in the world by revenue.
Toyota was the largest automobile manufacturer in 2012 (by production).[5] In July of that year, the company reported the production of its 200-millionth vehicle.[6] Toyota is the world's first automobile manufacturer to produce more than 10 million vehicles per year. It did so in 2012 according to OICA,[5] and in 2013 according to company data.[7]
As of July 2014, Toyota was the largest listed company in Japan by market capitalization (worth more than twice as much as #2-ranked SoftBank)[8] and by revenue.[9]
The company was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in 1937 as a spinoff from his father's company Toyota Industries to create automobiles.
Three years earlier, in 1934, while still a department of Toyota Industries, it created its first product, the Type A engine, and, in 1936, its first passenger car, the Toyota AA.
Toyota Motor Corporation produces vehicles under 5 brands, including the Toyota brand, Hino, Lexus, Ranz, and Scion. It also holds a 51.2% stake in Daihatsu, a 16.66% stake in Fuji Heavy Industries, a 5.9% stake in Isuzu, and a 0.27% stake in Tesla, as well as joint-ventures with two in China (GAC Toyota and Sichuan FAW Toyota Motor), one in India (Toyota Kirloskar), one in the Czech Republic (TPCA), along with several "nonautomotive" companies.[10] TMC is part of the Toyota Group, one of the largest conglomerates in the world.