Toyota, Automotive trends, Auto industry trends, Automotive market research, Automotive market analysis, auto industry news

Toyota is a Japanese OEM that sells cars and commercial vehicles under the following brands: Toyota, Daihatsu and Lexus. In addition, it also has holdings in several other manufacturers, such as Hino trucks, Subaru and Mazda. This page contains research on Toyota's activities and strategy.

Automotive trends, Auto industry trends, Automotive market research, Automotive market analysis, auto industry news

2020

April

  • Toyoda Gosei invested in cloud computing service Uhuru. (Toyoda Gosei)
  • Over 60,000 Toyota customers in North America have deferred lease payments as a result of coronavirus. Around one third of Toyota’s dealers have suspended sales. (Toyota)
  • Created a joint venture to supply electricity from renewable sources to Toyota in Japan. (Toyota)
  • Formally established a joint venture with BYD to develop electric vehicle technology. (Toyota)
  • Toyota’s financial arm started providing leasing deals to US Mazda dealers on a white label basis. (Toyota)

March

  • Will develop a Hino-badged fuel cell powered heavy truck. (Toyota)
  • Toyota Tsusho invested in multimodal app Velocia. (Toyota Tsusho)
  • Reportedly seeking a 1 trillion JPY (about $9.2 billion) credit line. (Reuters)
  • A series of trials has convinced Toyota that blockchain is a great idea and it intends to apply the technology in areas including supply chain and mobility services. (Toyota)
  • Partnering with Momenta for high definition mapping. (Reuters)
  • Developed a new type of paint gun that uses static electricity rather than air to apply the paint. The result is 95% of paint sticking to the body, up from 60% - 70% for contemporary systems (according to Toyota). The innovation could result in manufacturing CO2 emissions drop by a whopping 7% through lower paint and energy use. (Toyota)
  • Denied union requests for a pay rise for Japanese workers. (Nikkei)
  • Announced a senior executive shake-up, with several of the top brass departing, and a new CFO. (Toyota)
  • Expanded a recall for faulty fuel pumps to now cover 3.2 million units globally. (Bloomberg)

February

  • Investing $400 million in Chinese self-driving developer Pony.ai. (ai)
  • Rebranded the recently acquired fleet leasing arm of Inchcape as Kinto. (Toyota)
  • Toyota Tsusho invested in emerging market multimodal developer WhereIsMyTransport. (EU Startups)
  • Developing batteries for hybrids in collaboration with Toyota Industries. (Toyota)
  • A speech by Toyota’s boss in Canada calling for an emphasis on hybrid vehicles over battery electric ones highlighted some of the weaknesses in the company’s case: (1) Toyota’s economic rationale leans heavily on an assumption of a shortage of battery materials (hypothesised by others but not proven as a long term issue) and; (2) it offers no alternative for achieving zero tailpipe emissions (such as beefing up the relatively puny motors and batteries of conventional, non plug-in, hybrids). (Driving)
  • Continued to leverage the virtues of its electrified fleet by raising a $750 million “green bond” for the captive finance company to offer leases on hybrid cars. (Toyota)
  • Made a further investment in Intuition Robotics, a developer of digital companions. (FINSMES)
  • In 2019, half of Toyota’s sales in Europe were hybrids (p4 of the competitiveness presentation). (Toyota)
  • Data collected from 10 million vehicles fitted with Toyota’s safety system comprising emergency braking, lane departure alert and automatic high beam, says that rear end collisions can be reduced by 70% - 90%. (Toyota)
  • Working on an all-electric compact car powered by a battery pack that is designed for a second life -- in this case, electricity storage in the home as part of a system built by 3rd parties such as Panasonic. (Nikkei)
  • Has now acquired enough shares for 20% voting rights in Subaru. (Subaru)

January

  • Toyota Tsusho invested in Kenyan on-demand logistics company Sendy as part of a $20 million round. (FINSMES)
  • The battery-making joint venture between Toyota and Panasonic will be called Prime Planet. (Toyota)
  • Toyota’s Japanese union will reportedly seek a $92 per month wage increase in 2020, lower than 2019. (Reuters)
  • Moody’s changed the outlook for Toyota’s rating to negative. (Moody’s)
  • Recalling 696,000 cars to fix problems with fuel pumps. (Toyota)
  • Will build a yet-to-be-revealed new small SUV for the European market at the Valenciennes, France, plant. (Toyota)
  • Launching the Kinto brand in Europe. Car sharing and carpooling services will be offered, alongside all-inclusive leasing (in both multi-year and short term -- often called subscription -- variations). (Toyota)
  • Invested $394 million in (existing investment) flying taxi developer Joby Aviation as part of a $590 million round. A Toyota executive will join Joby’s board and the company will lend manufacturing expertise. (Toyota)
  • Reshuffling product allocation at some North American plants. Although the moves will see overall capacities remain the same, media seized on the news that the Tacoma pick-up will be made in Mexico instead of the USA (it is currently made in both countries). (Toyota)
  • Received a fine of $13 million in China for telling Lexus dealers not to discount too much. The fine was based on annual sales in the affected Chinese province (2% of 2016FY). (Nikkei)
  • Building a “city of the future” powered by fuel cells in Japan. Toyota hopes it will gain insights into connected homes and cars through the project. (Toyota)

2019

Q4 2019 (Fiscal Year Q3) Financial Results

  • Reported financial results for Q4 2019 (fiscal Q3). Revenue of 7.5 trillion JPY (about $68.7 billion) fell (3.3)% on a year-over-year basis and operating income of 654 billion JPY (about $6 billion) was also down slightly. Net income was way up, aided by gains on equities. (Toyota)

December

  • Released the production and sales forecast for 2020. Toyota thinks sales will be very slightly up at 10.77 million units (including the Daihatsu and Hino brands) and production will be 1% higher than 2019; at 10.9 million units. (Toyota)
  • Toyota found that collecting parts from suppliers in a “milk run” was 12% more efficient (measured by driver hours) than having them all deliver separately. The company worries that an impending shortage of delivery drivers in Japan over the next decade will inflate logistics costs, unless it can find offsetting efficiencies. (Toyota)
  • Launched, Toyota claims, an easy to use IP licencing portal for companies wishing to access Toyota’s advanced R&D. Anyone hoping to get their hands on the secrets of fuel cells might be a bit disappointed, the system currently only covers four areas, one of which is special types of paint. (Toyota)
  • Thinks geo-fenced driverless vehicles will appear in commercial service long before becoming available as a retail product. (Reuters)
  • Toyota executives hinted that the next generation Aygo sub-B car could have substantial electric-only range, and could even be fully electric. (Automotive News)
  • Toyota’s long-time North American boss is retiring. (Toyota)
  • Recalling around 14,000 cars to fix problems with the instruments and seat belts. (Toyota)
  • Toyota and Denso formed a joint venture called MIRISE to develop automotive semiconductors. (Toyota)
  • UK firm TRB and Toyota Tsusho are opening a US facility for carbon fibre components. (TRB)
  • Toyota’s North American sales team say they could shift double the amount of RAV4 plug-in hybrids, but that scare battery supplies are holding them back. (Bloomberg)
  • Invested in the Series B round of existing portfolio company May Mobility. (Deal Street Asia)
  • Announced a series of senior leadership changes. (Toyota)

November

  • Toyota Tsusho joined the Series C round of Indian bus aggregator app Shuttl. (Deal Street Asia)
  • Dropped non-hybrid versions of the Corolla from the European line-up. (Autocar)
  • Lexus showed off the brand’s first all-electric car. The UX300e is an SUV with a smaller battery than most peers, a 54.3 kWh unit has been fitted where most peers are in the 70 kWh - 95 kWh range. (Toyota)
  • Reckons its US advertising impact can be measured by analysing minute-by-minute internet search statistics. (EDO)
  • Maruti Suzuki and Toyota affiliate (Toyota Tsusho) set up a 50/50 joint venture to recycle cars, with a capacity for 2,000 vehicles per month. (Suzuki)
  • Toyota and BYD announced a joint venture to develop battery electric vehicles. The (50/50) partners will create a platform and models for the Chinese market. (Toyota)

October             

  • Lexus’s belief that take up of electric vehicles will be slow is partly based on experience of the US market where, despite the brand’s strong hybrid portfolio, Lexus feels customers still value a strong ICE. (Automotive News)
  • According to Lexus, the LF-30 previews how electric luxury cars will look in 2030. (Lexus)
  • Without offering any further explanation, Toyota announced an electrified witch’s broomstick could be part of the future mobility portfolio. (Toyota)
  • Unveiled the fourth generation of the Yaris B-sized car. (Toyota)
  • Planning to release an ultra-compact all-electric car in Japan in 2020. (Toyota)
  • Invested in electric moped rental firm Revel. (TechCrunch)
  • Acquired UK leasing firm Inchape Fleet Solutions for £100 million. (Fleet Europe)
  • Even Toyota has a place in its heart for diesel -- the latest Japanese market Granace (large MPV) relies on it. (Toyota)
  • The LQ concept car suggests that the name Yui might be adopted for Toyota’s in-car personal assistant. (Toyota)
  • Says that the next generation Mirai fuel car will have a 30% greater range, partly through a bigger tank, but it won’t say exactly how much until a later date. (Toyota)

Q3 2019 (Fiscal Year Q2) Financial Results

  • Reported Q3 2019 (fiscal Q2) revenue of 7.6 trillion JPY (about $70 billion), up 4% on a year-over-year basis. Operating income of 662 billion JPY (about $6.1 billion) rose 14% YoY. Toyota says it will sell fewer vehicles in the full year than previously anticipated (8.95 million rather than 9 million), but revenue and operating profit outlook remain unchanged. Toyota announced a ~$1.8 billion share buyback. (Toyota)

September

  • Toyota’s Indian manufacturing operations plans to recycle 96% of all plastics used and wants to send zero waste to landfill. (Economic Times of India)
  • Toyota will increase its shareholding in Subaru to achieve 20% of the voting rights. At the same time, Subaru will gain enough Toyota shares to have a stake of around 0.3%. (Subaru) Subaru said that there had been no discussions about an ultimate takeover. (Reuters)
  • Toyota’s current localisation level in India is between 60% - 85%, a figure the company hopes to improve on by encouraging more global suppliers to set up shop in the country. (Economic Times of India)
  • Toyota’s assembler in Pakistan has shut down for the remainder of September due to weak sales. (Dawn)
  • Investing $391 million in a new program at its San Antonio, USA, factory. (Toyota)
  • Lexus is launching a $4.2 million yacht. (Nikkei)
  • Investing 1 billion BRL (about $240 million) at the Sorocaba, Brazil, plant to launch a new product (the details of which will remain secret, for now). (Toyota)
  • Japan’s prime minister said Toyota will invest a further $300 million in its Russian operations by 2028. (TASS)
  • Invested in image recognition developer Cartica. (Toyota)

August

  • Buying 4.94% of Suzuki, and in return the smaller company will take a Toyota stake of around 0.2%. As a net result of the deal Suzuki will end up with 48 billion JPY (about $450 million), which it seems likely to spend on autonomous vehicle research (with Toyota). (Toyota)
  • Recalling 191,000 cars to replace faulty airbags that were themselves replacements for units supplied by scandal-ridden Takata. (Detroit Free Press)
  • Halting production at the beginning of November at the Burnaston, UK, plant to avoid potential problems stemming from Brexit. (The Guardian)
  • Affiliate Toyoda Gosei invested in Tryeting, a firm that uses artificial intelligence to develop new types of, and uses for, materials more quickly than traditional methods. (Toyoda Gosei)
  • Agreed to open a new plant in Ivory Coast, according to the prime minister. (Reuters)
  • Lexus is planning to show a concept for an all-electric small car at the Tokyo show. (Autocar)
  • Partnering with Pony.ai to develop driverless cars in China. (Venture Beat)
  • Didn’t deny reports that the Land Cruiser will be withdrawn in Western markets from 2022. (Gear Patrol)
  • Recalling about 7,000 cars to fix problems with the brakes. (Green Car Reports)
  • Isn’t worried that the Prius is associated with private hire brands such as Uber in many European cities, seeing taxi drivers as “fantastic ambassadors” and confirmed intent to remain in the sub-B segment in Europe although many other brands are dropping their models. (Automotive News)
  • Will collaborate on development of customer-facing robots with Preferred Networks. (Toyota)
  • Recalling around 18,000 RAV4 SUVs to correct problems with the rearview camera. (Toyota)

July

  • Says that shared platforms reduce development headcount and investment by 25%, whilst saving 10% of the vehicle material cost too. (Toyota)
  • Invested in autonomous vehicle vision technology company Recogni. (FINSMES)
  • Teaming up with BYD to develop battery electric vehicles for the Chinese market. (Toyota)
  • Toyota Tsusho invested in inspection startup UVeye alongside Volvo. (Forbes)
  • Created a sub-brand called “Toyota Professional” to sell commercial vehicles in Europe. (Toyota)
  • Will now make an SUV at the new US joint venture plant with Mazda (still under construction), rather than the previously planned car. (Toyota)
  • Selling all of Toyota’s interest in driveline supplier Yutaka Seimitsu to JTEKT. (Toyota)
  • Toyota and Denso will establish a 49% / 51% joint venture to develop advanced semi-conductors. (Toyota)
  • Says that a new generation of solar panels has increased charging rate by a factor of four. Toyota has a Prius test vehicle that generates around 860 W (in Japanese sunshine), good for a claimed 44.5 km of highway driving (the old system provided just over 6km). (Toyota)

Q2 2019 (Fiscal Year Q1) Financial Results

  • Reported financial results for Q2 2019 (fiscal Q1). Revenue of 7.65 trillion yen (about $72 billion) rose 3.8% on a year-over-year basis whilst operating income of 741.9 billion yen (about $7 billion) was up 8%. Nevertheless, Toyota cut full year forecasts, citing adverse exchange movements. (Toyota)

June

  • Plans to spend $2 billion on developing and building electric cars in Indonesia. (Reuters)
  • Let some other automakers buy into the MONET self-driving partnership, including Toyota’s own subsidiary Daihatsu, leaving Toyota with a ~37% stake. (Honda)
  • On a year-to-date basis, 57.5% of Toyotas sold in the UK are hybrids. (Toyota)
  • Reportedly concluded that a factory in Saudi Arabia would need a government subsidy covering half the manufacturing costs to be viable. (Reuters)
  • Brought forward the date that the Japanese dealer network will be integrated to May 2020. (Toyota)
  • Announced a reorganisation, mainly affecting the engineering team structure. (Toyota)
  • Planning to announce more partners for the Monet self-driving vehicle venture this month (currently Toyota, SoftBank, Honda and Hino Motors have stakes). (Reuters)
  • Reportedly intends to reduce the bonuses of top managers by around 5% because of rising spending. (Japan Times)
  • Toyota and Subaru are jointly developing a dedicated electric vehicle platform for mid-sized and large passenger vehicles,. The first project will be a C-sized SUV that both companies will badge and market separately. (Subaru)
  • Said that electric vehicles were more popular than it had anticipated in 2017 and product plans had therefore been revisited. Amongst the vehicles now planned is a mini car with heavily restricted performance (e.g. maximum speed of 60 km/h) and various standing and sitting electric scooters. Toyota will have six global BEVs (including the Suzuki, Daihatsu and Subaru collaborations) and will expand the range of battery suppliers it works with. (Toyota)

May

  • Launching a new plant in Myanmar to build pick-up trucks. (Toyota)
  • Unveiled an updated Lexus RX SUV. (Lexus)
  • Said that the US government’s stance again car imports made it feel unwelcome. (Toyota)
  • Toyota believes that by expanding into new types of services it can offset some of the pressure to reduce the manufacturing and retail base. (Toyota)
  • Establishing a joint venture with Panasonic to work on technologies for homes and towns. (Toyota)

April

  • Will produce the Lexus NX at the Cambridge, Canada, plant from 2022 onwards. (Toyota)
  • Launched a new $100 million fund to invest in autonomous mobility and robots. (Toyota)
  • Abandoned a plan to install vehicle-to-everything communication capability on cars sold in the USA from 2021 onwards, blaming lack of commitment from other carmakers and unclear government rules. (Reuters)
  • Working with Maxar and NTT to develop high definition maps from satellite imagery. (Toyota)
  • Took a stake in Uber’s self-driving car unit and agreed to invest $300 million over the next three years to build a commercial fleet of vehicles. (Toyota)
  • Licenced the eQ all-electric city car design to Chinese start-up Singulato, who will launch a vehicle based on Toyota’s model called the iC3. (Reuters)
  • Showed the next-generation Highlander SUV. (Toyota)
  • Unveiled the US market Yaris, based on the Mazda 2. (Autocar)
  • Unveiled the next generation RAV4. (Toyota)
  • Transferring the development and manufacturing operations for electronic components to Denso, the moves will be completed by April 2020. (Toyota)
  • Will offer royalty-free access on around 24,000 patents relating to electric vehicle technology and provide technical support to manufacturers making their own vehicles using Toyota’s components. The royalty-free period lasts until 2030, so it is unclear whether companies will have to start making payments after that point. (Toyota)

Q1 2019 (FY Fiscal 2018/19) Financial Results

  • Sold 10,602,559 vehicles in the fiscal year to March 2019, down (1.5)% on prior year. (Toyota)
  • Reported financial results for the fiscal year to the end of March 2019. Revenue of 30.2 trillion JPY (about $272 billion), up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Net income of 1.88 trillion JPY (about $17 billion) was down almost (25)% versus prior year. (Toyota)

March

  • Toyota researchers suggested that battery ageing may have less to do with the charging cycle (the conventional wisdom) and could be more to do with variations in the manufacturing process. The firm sees promise in testing techniques that can grade batteries at the end of the production line and direct the highest performing units to higher revenue applications, plus improve OEM confidence in lifetime capability. (Toyota)
  • Honda and Hino took a 10% stake in the MONET mobility joint venture between Toyota and SoftBank. (Honda)
  • Believes that sales in South America and the Caribbean will grow less than 1% this year. (Reuters)
  • Announced a series of executive changes. (Toyota)
  • Suffered a cyber attack which may have affected up to 3.1 million customers. (IT Pro)
  • Will replace the GT86, once again partnering with Subaru. (Autocar)
  • Toyota and Suzuki announced a series of actions to share vehicles and components to one another. Toyota will supply European-built cars to Suzuki, and make Suzuki-designed engines. Suzuki will sell Toyota several India-built models that will be re-badged for African markets while Toyota will make Vitaras in India. (Toyota)
  • Announced an additional $789 million of investments in US plants. (Toyota)
  • Invested in connectivity company Airbiquity. (Airbiquity)
  • Patented a system that uses the in-car fragrance function to blow tear gas in the face of would-be thieves. (CNET)
  • Toyota employees in Japan received a smaller pay rise than they hoped. (Reuters)
  • Toyota and SoftBank are reportedly considering a $1 billion investment in Uber’s self-driving unit that could value it at up to $10 billion. (Reuters)
  • Developing a fuel cell powered lunar rover with the Japanese space agency. (Toyota)
  • Executives said that a “bad” Brexit could result in a withdrawal from UK manufacturing, but their comments implied that this would be at the end of the new Corolla’s product cycle rather than in the immediate future. (Bloomberg)

February

  • Working with Carmera to produce high definition maps from vehicle camera data. (Toyota)
  • Creating a French hydrogen joint venture to create a fuelling network called Hyset, intended to encourage take-up of fuel cell vehicles. This mirrors Toyota’s approach in Japan, albeit with a scheme that is smaller in scale. (Toyota)
  • Toyota’s Australian unit said it had successfully fended off cyber-attackers seeking customer data. (The Guardian)
  • The UK sales company’s social media arm said that high performance versions of all cars were being brought to market in the future. (The Drive)
  • Announced some details of the Kinto car subscription offering for the Japanese market. Subscription terms will be three years and customers will have a choice between driving the same Toyota the whole time or flexing between six types of Lexus. At 194,400 yen per month (~ $1,760), the Lexus scheme is more expensive than similar US offerings from the likes of Audi, despite the long lock-in period. (Toyota)

January

  • The mobility joint venture between Toyota and SoftBank has been named Monet. (Toyota)
  • Confirmed the creation of a 49% / 51% battery joint venture with Panasonic. (Toyota)
  • Hopes that 2019 sales in China will rise 8% versus the prior year, even as overall industry struggles. (Reuters)
  • Launched an AWD version of the Prius. The extra driven wheels are exclusively electric. (Toyota)
  • Unveiled the production version of the Supra sports car, which shares underpinnings with the BMW Z4. (Toyota) The car will be built by Magna in Austria. (Magna)
  • Thinks that India will be the third largest market for vehicles within the next decade. (ET)
  • Reportedly working on a battery-making JV with Panasonic. (Reuters)
  • Hopes to offer “Toyota Guardian” driver assistance features to other car companies. (Toyota)
  • Recalling an additional 1.3 million vehicles in the US to replace airbags. (Toyota)
  • Helping to develop a new type of strawberry through DNA analysis. (NRGene)
  • Showed photographs of the latest-level Toyota self-driving test vehicles. (Toyota)

2018

Q4 2018 (Fiscal Year Q3) Financial Results

  • Produced 10,567,412 vehicles globally in 2018, down (1)% on 2017. (Toyota)
  • Released financial results for fiscal third quarter of 2018/19. Revenue of 7.8 trillion yen (about $70.7 billion) was slightly better than prior year, so was operating income of 676.1 billion yen (about $6 billion) Toyota reduced full year outlook for net income by 430 billion yen (about $3.9 billion) and slightly reduced sales volume guidance, although operating income forecast remains the same. (Toyota)

December

  • Published the 2018 environmental report for its North American operations. (Toyota)
  • Toyota AI Ventures invested in Sea Machines, a start up working on autonomous ships. (Toyota) The company also put money into Elementary Robotics. (Toyota)
  • Released a new offering aimed at ride hailing companies that bundles telematics with the vehicle to more effectively scheduled maintenance and keep vehicles on the road for longer. The telematics suite also enables usage based insurance through a third party partner. (Toyota)
  • Recalling around 65,000 vehicles in the US to replace Takata airbags that have already been previously upgraded with new ones from a different supplier. (Toyota)
  • Toyota AI Ventures invested in Parallel Domain, a company that develops simulations to test driverless cars. (Toyota)

November

  • Confirmed the already-leaked plan to buy out PSA’s share in the Kolin, Czech Republic plant. (PSA)
  • Announced a series of executive changes to take effect from January 2019, including the elimination of some lower level executive grade bands. Toyota will also adopt a less functional approach to development of senior leaders to give them a more rounded experience. (Toyota)
  • Reportedly agreed to buy out PSA’s share in the joint venture Kolin, Czech Republic, factory that makes the 108, C1 and Aygo. PSA will not commission successor vehicles after the current generation ends in 2021. The two companies will also partner on new small light vans. (Les Echos)
  • Toyota’s MD in Ireland complained about the distortion caused by the weaker UK pound, saying that it encouraged excessive imports of used cars from Britain. He believes Sterling/Euro partity would be “disastrous”. (Independent)
  • Reducing US production of the Camry in response to falling sales. (Bloomberg)

October

  • Launching a new car subscription service in Japan called Kinto, although details were scarce, Toyota envisages an all-inclusive monthly payment and some ability for users to switch cars. (Toyota)
  • Announced the plan for the staged replacement of its four different Japanese dealer brands with a single network by 2025. (Toyota)
  • Toyota cars are included in Subaru’s recall of over 400,000 cars to fix an engine stall issue. (Newsweek)
  • Considering an all-electric MR2. (Autocar)
  • The head of Toyota’s self-driving program in the US said the safety argument for robotaxis was flawed because the gains were insufficiently large over human drivers. (IEEE Spectrum)
  • Ran an advertising pilot that claimed a 21% improvement in performance from using blockchain to verify that real users had been shown advertisements. The press release was heavy on mentions of blockchain but light on explanation. (Lucidity)
  • Toyota AI Ventures invested in Perceptive Automata, a firm developing software to predict intent of pedestrians near to self-driving cars. (Toyota)
  • Created a joint venture with Softbank called Monet, in which Toyota will have 49.75%, aiming to jointly develop on-demand mobility services and uses for Toyota’s e-Palette autonomous vehicle platform. (Toyota)
  • Recalling 2.4 million cars built between 2008 and 2014 to because of a condition where the vehicle can stall at high speed. The same cars have already been recalled once but it seems not all problems were fixed. (Times of India)

Q3 2018 (Fiscal Year Q2) Financial Results

  • Reported financial results for the 2nd quarter of the financial year (Q3 2018). Sales of 2.18 million units were up marginally on a year-over-year basis. Revenue of 7.3 trillion yen (about $64.3 billion) was up 2% and operating income of 579 billion yen (about $5.1 billion) rose 11%. Toyota increased the full year outlook to an operating income of 2.4 trillion yen (about $21 billion). (Toyota)

September

  • Said it would be impossible to hold more than one day’s supply of inventory at its Burnaston plant. (BBC)
  • Reportedly preparing a shake-up of Japanese dealer operations that will replace the current four mass market channels with a single network by the mid-2020s. (Japan Times)
  • Will invest in a 30 billion yen fund run by Sparx group that will concentrate on sources of renewable energy. (Toyota)
  • Working to add production of Suzuki cars at its plant in Bengaluru, India to utilise surplus capacity. (LiveMint)
  • In cooperation talks with Geely about sharing hybrid electric technology. (Euro News)
  • Stopped production at four vehicle plants and several supplier factories after an earthquake in Hokkaido. Toyota hopes to restart operations by 13th (Toyota)
  • Planning four battery electric vehicles for launch in India by 2021 (some of which may run 72V rather than a higher voltage system) and a range of 12V to 72V hybrids in partnership with Toyota. (Economic Times of India)
  • Recalling one million cars globally to correct wiring harness problems that could lead to thermal events. (Reuters)

August

  • Invested $500 million in Uber and announced a collaboration to create purpose-built autonomous vehicles (based on the Toyota Sienna minivan) that will run on Uber’s network with an initial fleet in service from 2021. (Toyota)
  • Will drop the Auris name in Europe and use Corolla instead when the C-sized hatchback is replaced. (Toyota)
  • Unveiled the updated Lexus RC sportscar. (Lexus)
  • Chinese government websites suggested Toyota has been granted approval for incremental annual production capacity of 10,000 BEVs and 110,000 PHEVs in Tianjin. Company sources suggest an additional 120,000 units of annual capacity could be installed at Guangzhou. (Reuters)

July

  • Will dissolve its partnership with Isuzu and sell all the shares (5.89%) it holds, saying that the collaboration had yielded few benefits and some of the originally planned projects had not gone ahead (especially diesel). (Toyota)
  • Announced a new venture fund, Mirai Creation Fund II, with a planned warchest of 50 billion yen (about $450 million) and a mandate covering AI, robotics, hydrogen infrastructure, electrification and new materials. (Toyota)
  • Reportedly planning a wider portfolio of fuel cell vehicles in the mid-2020s, covering cars, SUVs and pick-ups, with ranges of up to 1,000km. (Reuters)
  • Will close a plant in Shizuoka, Japan due to low production volumes -- around 50,000 units per year. All workers being transferred to other nearby plants. (Mainichi)
  • Announced a new car sharing program called Hui, operating in Hawaii. (Toyota)

Q2 2018 (Fiscal Year Q1) Financial Results

  • Reported financial results for the first quarter of its 2018-2019 financial year. Revenue of 7.4 trillion yen (about $66 billion) was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis, whilst operating profit of 683 billion yen (about $6.1 billion) was up 18.9% YoY. (Toyota)
  • Announced 2018 first half sales of 5,209,000 units, a (1.6)% reduction from the same period in 2017. Production of 5,249,052 vehicles was (0.7)% lower. (Toyota)

June

  • Recalling around 115,000 units to correct potential fuel leaks. (Toyota)
  • Dropping the Avensis nameplate in favour of Camry in Europe. (Toyota)
  • Launched an all-new Century luxury limousine aimed at the Japanese market. The model has a sales target of 50 units per month. (Toyota)
  • Reportedly undertaking aggressive cost cutting in the marketing function, however from the examples given it wasn’t clear whether the measures were the first signs of a major revamp or normal business. (Reuters)
  • Toyota’s US financing arm will sell $3 billion in financial products to retail investors. (Toyota)
  • Announced a $1 billion investment in Grab, a data gathering scheme using Toyota’s TransL:og devices, a seat on Grab’s board and an executive rotation program. (Toyota)
  • Executives said company was taking a “strategic look” at the Lexus IS and GS sedans, implying there may not be a like-for-like replacement. (Autocar.)
  • Invested in self-driving robot delivery company Boxbot. (Toyota)

May

  • Announced discussions with Denso that could result in all of Toyota’s production and manufacturing engineering activities for electronics being transferred to Denso. Toyota would continue with research and development of electronic components. (Toyota)
  • Restructured its sales and marketing operations in Africa. Effective 1st January 2019, affiliate Toyota Tsusho will take over responsibility for all African markets (but not production assets in South Africa). (Toyota)
  • Toyota and Suzuki announced projects that could soon become formal partnerships: an ultra-high efficiency powertrain and Toyota producing vehicles in India for both brands to sell locally and in emerging markets. (Toyota)
  • Announced a deal for Aisin Seiki to take a majority stake in Toyota’s transmission factory in the Philippines, with a view to increasing sourcing to the plant. (Toyota)
  • Expects to sell at least 30,000 fuel cell vehicles per year after 2020 and is installing additional capacity for fuel cell stacks to be ready for the anticipated demand. (Toyota)
  • Said that, despite the Indian government’s apparent targets for all new vehicles to be electric by 2030, it would likely take until 2050 for infrastructure to improve sufficiently. (Times of India)
  • Executives clarified that although Toyota will offer solid state batteries in the early 2020s, it won’t be “on a mass production basis”. (Wards)
  • Announced a 400 million yen investment in big data company Albert, and a joint project to improve data for self-driving vehicles. (Toyota)
  • Toyota AI Ventures invested in radar start-up Metawave’s $10 million round. The company claims that its “next generation” radar can see over 150 metres with high resolution. (Metawave)
  • Will only sell hybrid versions of the Auris in Spain, stopping all diesel and gasoline ICE only models. (Europa Press)

April

  • Planning a new proving ground for driverless vehicles in Michigan. (Toyota)
  • Investing C$1.4 billion, with C$100 million of government support, in its Ontario plants in order to increase production of RAV4. (CBC)
  • Announced a battery electric C-HR as part of its 10 electrified vehicle portfolio for China. (Toyota)
  • Unveiled the new Lexus ES. The car will be on sale from September 2018. (Toyota)
  • Announced an investment of $170 million in the Mississippi factory to produce the new Corolla. (Toyota)
  • Created a European mobility group in London with a plan to recruit between 35 and 50 team members. (Toyota)
  • Will begin offering V2X capable vehicles in the US from 2021 onwards with a view to adoption on “most” of the portfolio by the mid-2020s. (Toyota)
  • VW Trucks and Hino Motors (in which Toyota has a controlling stake) concluded a strategic cooperation agreement covering new technologies and procurement. (VW)
  • Recalling around 6,000 vehicles in the USA to correct potential braking problems. (Toyota)

Financial Year 2017/18 Results

  • Reported financial results for the 2017/18 fiscal year. Net revenue of 29.4 trillion yen (~$270 billion) was 6% better than the prior year, despite a small decline in wholesales. Operating income of 2.4 trillion yen (~$22 billion) was up 20% on 2016/17. Toyota said exchange was a big part of explaining both increases. (Toyota)
  • Produced 2,658,940 vehicles worldwide in Q1 2018, a decrease of (1.8)% on the same period in 2017. (Toyota)

March

  • Agreed a two-way supply agreement with Suzuki in India. Suzuki will supply Baleno and Vitara-based products and Toyota will reciprocate with Corolla. Volumes and pricing methods are still under discussion. (Toyota)
  • Lexus said that the new UX crossover will be available through a subscription service with more details to be announced later this year. (Toyota)
  • Issued a recall for around 2,000 Camry vehicles to correct problems with the engine. (Toyota)
  • Suspended autonomous car testing on public roads in the USA following Uber’s accident (even though no Toyota vehicle was involved). (Business Insider)
  • Reportedly held talks with Uber about buying driverless technology for use in Toyota vehicles. (TechCrunch)
  • BMW iVentures led an investment round in lidar maker Blackmore, with Toyota also participating. (Blackmore)
  • Toyota announced a 3.3% pay increase for workers in Japan. (Reuters)
  • Completed a long-term sales agreement with Avis to sell and incremental 10,000 vehicles. Although sales to major daily rental companies are normally considered a bad thing for margin, Toyota talked up the benefit of the connectivity suite it would provide. (Toyota)
  • Expects 2018 European hybrid mix to be above 47% and confirmed a new version of the Supra. (Toyota)
  • Unveiled the Lexus UX, a small crossover and Range Rover Evoque rival. (Lexus)
  • Will build the next generation Auris in its Burnaston, UK, plant. Toyota’s press release stressed the importance of zero tariffs and “frictionless” trade post-Brexit. (Toyota)
  • Confirmed that it will no longer offer diesel powertrains in European passenger cars after the end of 2018 (mix fell below 10% in 2017), commercial vehicles will still have diesels. (Toyota)
  • Invested in May Mobility, a maker of autonomous buses, alongside BMW iVentures. (Toyota)
  • Said it was restructuring its autonomous driving efforts and spending an additional 300 billion yen (about $2.8 billion). The effort will be led by US-based Toyota Research Institute, Toyota affiliates Aisin and Denso will also have small stakes in the organisation (90% Toyota / 5% Denso / 5% Aisin). (Toyota)
  • Launched a new 2.0 litre hybrid engine with accompanying CVT that Toyota says will reduce emissions by more than 18% and will be the mainstay of its portfolio, representing 80% of vehicles sold in major markets by 2023. (Toyota)

February

  • Recalling around 74,000 vehicles in North America to correct seating and stability control issues. (Toyota)
  • Announced an electric motor magnet design that Toyota says reduces rare earth material content by 50%. (Toyota)
  • Uber’s CEO posted photos of a meeting with Toyota’s leadership, saying that the two companies were discussing a partnership for autonomous vehicles. (Deal Street Asia)
  • Recalling around 22,000 vehicles in North America to correct problems with the fuel system. (Toyota)
  • Executives said Toyota is looking at scenarios where individuals have mainly given up their own cars in favour of autonomous services, but those that remain are more like “pure race cars”. (Economic Times of India)
  • Toyota will make an investment in cab company JapanTaxi and the two will work together on development of mobility services. (Toyota)
  • Agreed a series of projects with Chubu Electric Power on use of second-life vehicle batteries in stationary storage facilities and battery recycling. The companies hope to have a 10,000 battery system by 2020. (Toyota)
  • Is recalling 49,000 hybrid vehicles to correct a problem that prevents the airbags working correctly. (Toyota)
  • Made an investment in flying taxi company Joby Aviation. (Toyota)

January

  • Announced €300 million of new investment in its Valenciennes plant in France, adding 300 jobs now and 400 later. The factory will have a capacity of 300,000 units annually for vehicles built on the TNGA platform, suggesting that an additional product will be added alongside Yaris (anyone ever heard of Brexit?). (Toyota)
  • Showed the e-Palette concept vehicle at CES; a scalable electrified and autonomous vehicle. Toyota announced partnerships with Didi, Uber, Amazon and Pizza Hut to develop applications for the vehicle and said it was sharing technology development with Mazda, Uber and Didi. (Toyota)
  • Forecasting 2018 US light vehicle industry of 16.8 million units, according to executives. (Reuters)
  • Selected Huntsville, Alabama for the site of the new 300,000 capacity plant it will build with Mazda -- close to existing Toyota factories. The plant will cost $1.6 billion; reportedly supported by $700 million of incentives. (Mazda)
  • Ceased offering diesel cars (diesel 4x4, pick-ups and LCVs are available) in Italy from 1st January 2018. (Europa Press)
  • Published details of its latest self-driving test vehicles. The basis is a Lexus LS 600 PHEV saloon and uses four Luminar lidar sensors to provide longer-range (up to 200m) data, with four shorter-range lidar sensors (which look like 100m range Velodyne pucks) in the front wings and bumpers. (Toyota)

2017

2017 Full Year Earnings

  • Reported Q4 2017 financial results, revenue and profits continued to grow strongly, in part due to a weakened yen. The company revised its financial forecasts up, whilst keeping sales outlook flat, as a result. (Toyota)
  • Announced full year global production of 10,466,451 vehicles, a 2.5% increase on 2016. (Toyota)

December

  • A director at Toyota’s Indian JV said the government’s plan for all-electric vehicle sales by 2030 was “not practical and not the way forward”, calling for more leeway in meeting the underlying environmental aims. (Times of India)
  • Said that by 2025 every vehicle will have an electrified version (HEV -- which may include 48V / PHEV) or be fully electric (BEV / FCEV). In the early 2020s the company will have 10 BEVs models worldwide and will introduce FCEVs on top. By 2030 the company aims to sell 1 million BEVs / FCEVs each year and 4.5 million HEVs / PHEVs -- equating to an expected sales mix of around 10% BEV / FCEV. (Toyota)
  • Will merge two existing leasing subsidiaries into a single entity with a broader mission that includes mobility services. The new arm will be called Toyota Mobility Service Co. (Toyota)
  • Merging three existing subsidiaries to create a conversion and accessories business. The rationale for the move appears to be a simpler business structure and efficiency gains. (Toyota)
  • Launched a new online leasing system in the UK called NGage. This allows customers to receive and sign documents digitally, which Toyota expects will improve turnaround time and reduce mistakes. (Toyota)
  • Released production and sales forecasts for 2018. The company expects overall sales to increase around 1%, although production will drop by (2)%. (Toyota)
  • Agreed to study the feasibility of a joint automotive prismatic battery business with Panasonic. (Toyota)
  • Said that it has stopped selling the diesel powered Auris in the UK. (Autocar)

November

  • Announced a series of executive moves, including a new CFO and a change to the structure that will decrease the power of central functions and create greater regional control and accountability. (Toyota)
  • Announced that it will build a facility that can generate hydrogen from agricultural waste and then convert it to electricity using fuel cells. The power plant will be online in 2020 and have an output of 2.35 MW. (Toyota)
  • Created a $4 million fund to provide money for mobility solutions aimed at users with lower-limb paralysis. (Toyota)
  • Is reportedly seeking to “heighten awareness” of US employees about their need to improve cost competitiveness by creating an internal video that says it is cheaper to import cars from Japan than make them in the US. Presumably the video doesn’t highlight the c.(30)% depreciation of yen to dollar over the past few years. (Bloomberg)
  • Issued a new €600 million green bond which will be used exclusively to finance retail contracts on Toyota and Lexus vehicles that meet certain emissions criteria. (Daimler)
  • Announced a cooperation with Suzuki to sell electric cars in India. The current working assumption (at MoU stage) is that Suzuki will make the vehicles and Toyota will sell a badge-engineered version. (Toyota)
  • Recalling around 29,000 C-HR and 40,000 Prius in the US for problems with the parking brake and fuse system respectively. (Toyota)
  • Launched a scheme in partnership with Launch Mobility aimed at ride-hailing drivers to offer used vehicles for short term rentals. (Toyota)
  • A senior executive predicted that internal combustion engines would power only 10% of new vehicles by 2040 and have been phased out of production entirely by 2050. (Autocar)
  • Now offers behaviour and usage based insurance in Japan using telematics data received from the car. (Toyota)
  • Toyota AI Ventures said that it would be making further investments in Israeli companies. (Reuters)

Q3 Financials (November)

  • Reported Financial results for Q3 2017 / Q2 fiscal year. Sales of 2,174,324 were down (0.8%) on a year-over-year basis, although revenue of 7.14 trillion yen (about $64.4 billion) was up 10.2% YoY. Operating income of 522 billion yen / $4.0 billion was up 10.0% YoY. (Toyota)
  • Reported Q3 group production of 2,553,144 units, down (1)% on a year-over-year basis. (Toyota)

October

  • Said that it expected hydrogen fuel cell vehicles to have cost parity with hybrid vehicles in the Japanese market by 2025 due to a “substantial move forward” that the next generation technology, being launched in the early 2020’s will bring. (Autocar)
  • Fuel cell sales will take off significantly from 2030, according to comments made by one of Toyota’s Spanish PR team at a conference. (Europa Press)
  • Is scaling back on investment at its under-construction plant in Mexico. The company will spend 30% less and reduce the intended capacity by half, to 100,000 units. Toyota said that the new joint venture plant with Mazda had changed the previous model line allocation plan. (Reuters)
  • Showed a concept of the replacement for Lexus’s flagship LS saloon and implied that the vehicle will have an SAE L3 driving system for use on highways from 2020. (Toyota)
  • A senior executive said that he believed Toyota would not launch any new diesel-powered models in Europe, pointing to the success of the C-HR, which is only available with petrol or hybrid powertrains. (Autocar)
  • Toyota executives, prompted by UK media, said that the uncertainty over a Brexit settlement was making it difficult to plan and that the company was certain that the imposition of tariffs would have a “big negative impact” on competitiveness. (The Guardian)
  • Is recalling around 310,000 Sienna vehicles to rectify possible gearbox problems. (Toyota)
  • Said that Kobe Steel supplied aluminium had been used in vehicles but that it passed Toyota’s own safety tests. Investigations are still ongoing regarding steel components used by Toyota. (Toyota)
  • Unveiled a Concept-i family of vehicles at the Tokyo motor show that consist of an electric scooter, a compact car and a vehicle that can seat four people in comfort. (Toyota). The company also show a vehicle called “Fine-Comfort Ride”, which was its take on the type of lounge like autonomous vehicles such as the M-B F105. (Toyota)
  • Will reportedly reduce the number of vehicles it sells in the Japanese market from 60 today to around 30 by 2025 in order to re-direct capital to new areas. (Economic Times of India)
  • Said in a company video that full self-driving technology was “many years off” and cautioned that some companies researching autonomy were potentially not thinking through all the safety implications, saying “it’s one thing to make a five-minute YouTube video” but putting millions of vehicles into the hands of “everyday people” was a different scale of problem. The company believes that billions of miles of testing are necessary and when the team hear other companies talk about their millions of testing miles they think “that’s nice”. Video at 46:00. (Toyota)
  • Said that it would use Hitachi’s internet of things platform, Lumada, to increase productivity in its factories. Toyota believes that big data can augment existing problem solving methods (referred to in Toyota literature as PDCA -- the Plan, Do Check, Act Deming cycle). (Toyota)

September

  • Toyota, Mazda and Denso (a Toyota-affiliated supplier) are creating a joint venture to work on electric vehicle development. The new business, to be called EV C.A. Spirit Corporation, will have around 40 employees and will seek to create a common architecture for electric vehicles. Toyota and Mazda hope that the common platform can be scaleable to a range of vehicle sizes. (Toyota)
  • Published a white paper on the future of autonomous driving and gave details of its latest iteration of a driverless product in development -- Platform 2.1. Within the document, Toyota says that it sees SAE Level 3 autonomy “potentially as challenging to implement as Level Four automation” (it is hard because of the need to ensure a human driver can take control, something that human drivers have shown themselves to be often incapable of). (Toyota)
  • Toyota has separated capability into two areas -- Guardian and Chauffeur. Guardian roughly collects existing driver assistance aids and seeks to improve them so that a vehicle could try to always prevent a crash. Chauffeur is a full self-driving mode. Toyota aims to bring a highly capable highway-only Level 2 system, that it calls Highway teammate into production in 2020 and self-driving in cities, called Urban teammate in the 2020s. Toyota implies that both systems are driver-supervised, but given its earlier comments on the practical difficulties of SAE Level 3, this seems like more of a hedge in public statements. (Toyota)
  • Made an investment in PKSHA, a company that aims to develop natural speech for self-driving cars. (Detroit News)
  • Said that it has no plans to launch fully electric vehicles in India and will wait for the infrastructure to be developed before it looks to launch any vehicles. (Economic Times of India)
  • Toyota’s president said that it would continue to make a variety of powertrain options available to customers; spanning ICEs, hybrids, BEVs and fuel cell vehicles because Toyota believes that customers rather than manufacturers should make the technological choices. He also said that the company had been “a bit late to the game” on BEVs. (Reuters)
  • Said that it was launching a Japan only sub-brand called GR (Gazoo Racing) for sporty versions of its products. The range could be sold outside Japan eventually. (Auto Express)
  • A senior executive said that the company was becoming increasingly concerned over Brexit. He called the company’s future in the UK “a big question mark” and said that although a few months ago the UK government had expressed complete confidence in a tariff-free UK-EU trade deal, “they are not saying that any more”. (The Guardian)
  • Said that it will add a second style of hybrid to its European line-up, moving beyond fuel economy considerations (the traditional preserve of the hybrid) by offering a version that will increase power. (Toyota)
  • Said that it was already close to its 2020 goal of a 50% sales mix of hybrid vehicles in Western Europe. Yaris is at 45%, RAV4 at 52%, Auris at 65% and C-HR at 77%. (Toyota)
  • Toyota’s chairman said in a television interview that he thinks two or three more technological breakthroughs are needed in order for fully electric vehicles to become competitive with ICE vehicles. He said that he was unable to say when a vehicle powered by a battery would be economically viable. He also said that major carmakers would have to partner with start-ups on new mobility technologies and those that didn’t “would not survive”. (InsideEVs)

August

  • Announced five companies it had decided to work with on solving future mobility and ownership challenges: Caulis (risk assessment and security); giftee (e-gifts); Sharenori (car sharing); Nightley (customer data collection) and Ateam (services for used car owners). (Toyota)
  • Participated in ride hailing service Grab’s latest fund-raising round and announced a collaboration to install Toyota-developed data recording devices in Grab vehicles. (Toyota)
  • Announced July production results. Global production of 824,943 units was down (0.2)% on a year-over-year basis. (Toyota)
  • Said it was creating a new group called Connected Technologies to develop in-car user experiences. The team will be made up of around 100 people and combine existing IT and product development employees. (Toyota)
  • A patent for a “cloaking device” filed by Toyota that uses thin screens and external cameras to embed screens in vehicle A pillars and improve driver visibility invited the internet to speculate about James Bond’s Aston Martin Vanish from Die Another Day finally reaching production reality. (Free Patents Online)
  • Announced Sevco Pacific as a partner in its tests to develop the Toyota Mobility Services Platform, which has been developed with help from Getaround. Sevco, a Toyota dealer in Hawaii, will use the in-house developed hardware and software to run a car sharing scheme. (Toyota)
  • Announced the creation of a consortium with partners including Denso, Ericsson, Intel and NTT to explore infrastructure requirements for connected vehicles. Toyota expects V2C transfer of 10 exabytes per month by 2025. (Toyota)
  • Said that it will delay the launch of its new plant in Mexico from 2019 to the first half of 2020 because its new JV with Mazda will produce the car originally planned for the plant and it needs time to switch to a new model. (Reuters)
  • Announced that it would deepen its existing cooperation with Mazda. As a part of the move, Toyota is taking a 5% stake in Mazda via newly issued shares and Mazda will take a 0.25% stake in Toyota. The cooperation will create a JV factory to produce 300,000 units in the US with start of production in 2021 as well as joint engineering projects and product sharing (currently confined to Japan). (Mazda)
  • Said that it was investing an additional 10.5 billion yen (about $95 million) in deep-learning AI company Preferred Networks. (Toyota)
  • Will expand its EV sharing pilot program Ha:mo to Thailand. (Economic Times)

July

  • Reported June sales and production figures. June production of 912,387 vehicles was (1.2)% down on a year-over-year basis, with a (3.1)% drop in the Toyota and Lexus brands. On a year to date basis, sales of 5.13 million vehicles was down (2.7)% YoY. (Toyota)
  • Is reportedly working on an electric car that will go into production in 2022 and be powered with sold-state batteries. (Reuters)
  • Took part in the $159 million series C financing of autonomous vehicle technology company Nauto, alongside GM and BMW. Toyota was already an investor. (More…)
  • Reportedly plans to begin large-scale BEV production in China in 2019, with a crossover as the launch vehicle. (More…)
  • Announced that it has formed an in-house VC operation called Toyota AI Ventures with $100 million of funding. This builds on the earlier creation of the Toyota Research Institute (TRI), based in Silicon Valley. The three investments discussed in the press release have already been made and previously announced by TRI. (More…)
  • Received assurances from the UK government around Brexit ahead of a March 2017 announcement that a future product would be built at its UK plant. As in the case of prior discussions with Nissan, the UK government confirmed that a letter had been sent to Toyota but refused to divulge its contents. The government did indicate that the same assurances would be available to other companies. (More…)

Q2 / Fiscal Q1 Earnings

  • Reported fiscal first quarter sales of 2,215,111 units with revenues of 7.05 trillion yen, an increase of 7% on a year-over-year basis. Operating income of 574.2 billion yen was down more than (10)% YoY, about half of this drop was explained by exchange. (Toyota)

June

  • Said that its Chinese JV FAW-Toyota would install a new assembly line for small SUVs with production capacity of 100,000 units starting in June 2018 and rising to 200,000 units. (..)
  • Invested in Israeli vehicle to vehicle communication hardware provider Autotalks. (More…)
  • Will recall 1,760 Lexus ES models to fix issues with the steering. (More…)
  • Announced May 2017 production and sales results. Global production of 734,574 units was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. (More…)
  • Daihatsu is intending to enter the Brazilian market, citing the demand for the type of compact cars in which the brand specialises. (More…)
  • Says it is open to more M&A to obtain new automotive technologies, including in the field of autonomy. Memo: Toyota’s surplus cash pile is larger than its four nearest rivals combined. (More…)
  • Wholly owned subsidiary Toyota Financial Services announced a strategic investment in Finnish company MaaS Global, a start-up intending to build “the world’s first mobility ecosystem). (More…)
  • Said that it was working with Line (Japanese messaging app) and NAVER (South Korean search portal) to develop a personal assistant AI that could be used in Cars (Line already has a system called Clova). (More…)
  • Was named most valuable automotive brand in the BrandZ survey (conducted by a subsidiary of WPP). (..)
  • Issued its April 2017 flash report. Worldwide production of 819,092 units was 8.7% lower than prior year. All three major brands: Toyota, Daihatsu and Hino contributed to the drop. (..)
  • Reported May US sales. Total sales of 218,248 units were down 0.5% year-over-year. The main reason for the decrease was a reduction in Lexus sales. (..)
  • Issued a recall of around 32,000 Tacoma trucks in the US to correct a defect that could lead to stalling at high speed. (..)
  • Has now sold its remaining holding in Tesla. The sale was completed during 2016 but only confirmed recently (More…)

May

  • Said that it was exploring the use of blockchain technology to securely store autonomous vehicle driving data from multiple sources. The system Toyota is developing is aimed at improvements in three areas: holding test data, usage based insurance and transacting feeds for car or ride hailing. (..)
  • Settled a US class action case relating to failure of airbags supplied by Takata. The overall bill was $553 million of which Toyota’s share was $279 million. (..)
  • Announced the launch of a restroom information service at around 19,000 sites in Japan. The aim seems to be to show off the capabilities of Toyota’s telematics service. (..)
  • Will be part of an 11-company consortium that aims to accelerate roll-out of hydrogen stations in Japan, targeting 160 stations and 40,000 fuel cell vehicles by 2020. (More…)
  • Announced a collaboration with Nvidia to develop artificial intelligence technologies for driverless cars. (..)
  • Said that it was on track with the launch of its Mexico plant. (..)
  • Took part in a very small funding round for a Japanese flying car company called Cartivator, which is developing a product called Skydrive. Toyota invested 40 million yen. (..)
  • Toyota’s North America CEO, Jim Lentz, said that OEMs in the US were continuing to push sales on the basis that a $1 trillion stimulus program supported by the Trump administration would “add 800,000 units” if approved. (..). He also said that NAFTA should not be rescinded, but could perhaps be improved. (More...)
  • Reported that its US sales in April were down 4.4% year-over-year. (..)
  • Said that has invested $154 million in its Michigan, USA operations in the last two years. (..)

April

  • Reported March 2017 and full year production figures. Overall production of 10.4 million vehicles was down 3.6% year-over-year. (..)
  • Announced a recall of approximately 228,000 Tacoma trucks in North America. (..)
  • Announced a relationship with the Tokyo Hire-Taxi Association to gather data that will enable the introduction of connected taxis. (..)
  • Executives speaking off the record indicated that the company’s global fuel cell strategy has been undermined by Chinese regulations supporting battery electric vehicles instead. (..)
  • Toyota took part in a $45 million Series C funding round for car sharing service Getaround. (..)
  • Created a fuel-cell semi-truck (HGV) to demonstrate the scalability of the fuel cell technology used in the Mirai car. The truck has a fuel cell system double the size of the one in the Mirai. (..)
  • The President of Toyota USA said that the US auto market has peaked. His explanation was that the shift from sedans to SUVs has left carmakers with the wrong production mix and they are using incentives until they can change production over to SUVs in sufficient quantity. (..)
  • Reported that hybrid sales in Q1 2017 were up 50% year-over-year in Europe. Hybrids are now 40% of Toyota’s European sales. (..)
  • Announced a $1.33 billion investment in its Kentucky (USA) plant. (..)
  • Announced a five year research program into the communities of the future (Source)

Q1 / Fiscal Q4 Earnings

  • Reported results for the 2016 financial year. Vehicle sales of 8.971 million units were up 3.3% year-over-year. Revenue of 27.6 trillion yen ($256 billion) was down 2.8% YoY. Operating Income of 1.99 trillion yen ($18.5 billion) was down 30.1%. The forecast for the current year is for vehicle sales of 8.9 million, revenue of 27.5 trillion yen and operating income of 1.6 trillion yen. The explanation for the lower profits were increased incentives in the US market and exchange rate losses from a stronger yen. (..)

March

  • Announced several research projects including high-precision strawberry picking, agricultural modelling and the use of AI in discovering new materials (in particular for batteries)
  • February 2017 worldwide production including Daihatsu and Hino of 1.714m units (up 9.4%)
  • Announced a collaboration with NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation) to pool their skills in the development of connected cars, they plan a field trial in 2018

March

  • Executives said that a “bad” Brexit could result in a withdrawal from UK manufacturing, but their comments implied that this would be at the end of the new Corolla’s product cycle rather than in the immediate future. (Bloomberg)

February

  • Working with Carmera to produce high definition maps from vehicle camera data. (Toyota)
  • Creating a French hydrogen joint venture to create a fuelling network called Hyset, intended to encourage take-up of fuel cell vehicles. This mirrors Toyota’s approach in Japan, albeit with a scheme that is smaller in scale. (Toyota)
  • Toyota’s Australian unit said it had successfully fended off cyber-attackers seeking customer data. (The Guardian)
  • The UK sales company’s social media arm said that high performance versions of all cars were being brought to market in the future. (The Drive)
  • Announced some details of the Kinto car subscription offering for the Japanese market. Subscription terms will be three years and customers will have a choice between driving the same Toyota the whole time or flexing between six types of Lexus. At 194,400 yen per month (~ $1,760), the Lexus scheme is more expensive than similar US offerings from the likes of Audi, despite the long lock-in period. (Toyota)

January

  • The mobility joint venture between Toyota and SoftBank has been named Monet. (Toyota)
  • Confirmed the creation of a 49% / 51% battery joint venture with Panasonic. (Toyota)
  • Hopes that 2019 sales in China will rise 8% versus the prior year, even as overall industry struggles. (Reuters)
  • Launched an AWD version of the Prius. The extra driven wheels are exclusively electric. (Toyota)
  • Unveiled the production version of the Supra sports car, which shares underpinnings with the BMW Z4. (Toyota) The car will be built by Magna in Austria. (Magna)
  • Thinks that India will be the third largest market for vehicles within the next decade. (ET)
  • Reportedly working on a battery-making JV with Panasonic. (Reuters)
  • Hopes to offer “Toyota Guardian” driver assistance features to other car companies. (Toyota)
  • Recalling an additional 1.3 million vehicles in the US to replace airbags. (Toyota)
  • Helping to develop a new type of strawberry through DNA analysis. (NRGene)
  • Showed photographs of the latest-level Toyota self-driving test vehicles. (Toyota)