Part 2
Toyota firstly got into a car business in 1936. Their first successful product was Toyopet, a tiny car that became popular amongst taxi drivers in Japan due to the car’s reliability. Toyota started to expand their business abroad, first in South America, and then in U.S. According to Shotaro Kamiya, president of Toyota Motor Sales, the decision to target the U.S. came from his business trip to the U.S. in 1955 when he was amazed by the number of small cars he saw. Nearly 100,000 cars were on the road, all of which were from Europe and most from Volkswagens. That time, Toyota had already made a successful case of selling their car Land Cruiser SUV abroad before, and as Kamiya feared that U.S. might impose import restrictions in a car market, which might cause Japanese companies to not be able to expand their car business in the U.S. anytime soon, Kamiya decided to propose the business expansion in the U.S. market.
His proposal made a big debate within the company, as his proposal means competing with big corporates such as GM and Ford in their home market. Having only small cars, it seemed quite risky to make this competition. Kamiya, however, found his supporter who is Taizo Ishida, president of Toyota Motor Corporation, who visited the U.S. and noticed the potential of Toyota’s success in U.S. market. When finally his proposal won, Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. was incorporated in California in 1957 – with its HQ in Beverly Hills and its old American Motors outlet in Hollywood to serve as its first dealership. Toyota made its first sale in 1958, and by year’s end it sold just right above 250 cars, along with one Land Cruiser. It became a big problem – The Toyopet (renamed as the Crown) was not ready for the U.S. market. Toyota had discovered that their selling products and strategy were uncompetitive, and in 1960 Toyota suspended U.S. operations. It was a shameful moment in their car selling history.
