Kiichiro Toyoda (Japanese: 豊田 喜一郎（とよだ きいちろう）, Hepburn: Toyoda Kiichirō; June 11, 1894 – March 27, 1952) was a Japanese engineer and businessman, and the son of Toyoda Loom Works founder Sakichi Toyoda. His decision to change Toyoda's focus from automatic loom manufacturing into automobile manufacturing created what later became Toyota.
Toyoda Loom Works and Toyota Motor Corporation
Kiichiro Toyoda persuaded his father, who was responsible as head of the family business, to invest in the expansion of Toyoda Loom Works into a concept automobiles division, which was considered a risk to the family business at the time. Shortly before Sakichi Toyoda died, he encouraged his son to follow his dream and pursue automobile manufacturing. Kiichiro built on his family's engineering prowess: they invented steam, oil, and electric looms. Eventually turning it into Toyota – the well known car manufacturer. He changed the company's name from his family's name for good luck.
In response to the company's flagging sales and profitability, Toyoda resigned from his position of leadership in 1950. He died two years later, without witnessing the company's eventual successes. His contemporaries later dubbed him "Japan's Thomas Edison". In 1957, his cousin and confidant Eiji Toyoda, followed him as head of Toyota Motor Corporation and built upon the late Toyoda's expansion to turn Toyota into a world-class engineering conglomeration. He also launched Lexus - the luxury car division.
Kiichiro Toyoda was born on June 11, 1894, in Yamaguchi in the village of Yoshitsu in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan (currently Yamaguchi, Kosai, Shizuoka), the son of Sakichi Toyoda and Tami Sahara.
When Kiichiro was born, Sakichi was living in Toyohashi. Sakichi came to Yoshitsumachi to name Kiichiro. However, after Sakichi named Kiichiro, he returned to Toyohashi. Less than two months after his mother, Tami, gave birth to him, she left him and her husband. She did so because she thought her husband was too preoccupied with industrial inventions to pay any attention to their family life. Therefore, Kiichiro was raised in Yoshitsu village by his grandparents. At the age of three, Kiichiro moved to what is now Higashi-ku, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, where his father lived. Kiichiro entered Kyodo Kanji Ordinary Elementary School and then changed to Takadake Ordinary Elementary School (currently Nagoya Municipal Higashisakura Elementary School). After that, he entered Aichi Normal School Elementary School (currently Aichi University of Education Nagoya Elementary School), Meirin Junior High School (currently Aichi Prefectural Meiwa High School), and Second High School. In 1920, he graduated from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, at Tokyo Imperial University. After graduation, he remained in Tokyo Imperial University at the Faculty of Law for about seven months until March 1921. Kiichiro excelled at his studies.
After graduating, Toyoda returned to his hometown, Nagoya, and joined Toyota Boshoku, which was founded by his father, Sakichi, in 1918 (Sakichi served as company president from then on). From July 1921 to February 1922, Kiichirō visited San Francisco, London, Oldham (a large town in Greater Manchester, England), etc. to learn about the spinning and weaving industry and then returned from Marseille via Shanghai. After he returned to Japan, in December 1922, he married Hatako Iida, the daughter of the Takashimaya department store chain co-founder, Shinshichi Iida. In 1926, Kiichiro established Toyota Industries Corporation and became its managing director. Also, he became interested in automatic looms, so he set up a pilot plant in Kariya, Aichi to start development for them even though his father, Sakichi, disagreed. He traveled to Europe and America from September 1929 to April 1930, and thought that the automobile industry, which was in its infancy at that time, would greatly develop in the future. Therefore, in 1933, an automobile manufacturing department (later the automobile department) was newly established in Toyota Industries Corporation. In 1936, it was designated as a licensed company under the Automotive Manufacturing Act. In 1937, it became independent as Toyota Motor Corporation. Kiichirō became the vice president the same year (the president was Rizaburo Toyoda). In 1941, Kiichiro took over as president. At the height of World War II, the Toyoda family was affected on both family business and home fronts. His children's education was delayed by civil ramifications, and his business was compelled to manufacture trucks for the Imperial Japanese Army. The family firms were escaped destruction during the war.
Expanding to automotive industry
Kiichiro Toyoda was a key figure in leading the Japanese automobile industry, and without him, today's Japanese automobile industry might have been less developed. The automobile industry plays a very important role in supporting the Japanese economy. The number of automobiles produced in Japan dramatically increased from 70,000 to 11.4 million between 1955 and 1980, and in 1980 exceeded the number of automobiles produced by the United States. In addition, the ratio of overseas exports of Japanese automobiles was 55% in 1985.
Toyoda is said to have paved the way 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 of 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 upon the A1 model and GA trucks that improved the G1 model.
Toyota Industries Corporation was designated, along with the Nissan Motor Company in September as a licensed company under the Automotive Manufacturing Act. However, Kiichiro was worried that being selected as a licensed company would lead to the loss of the competitiveness and destruction of the 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 to produce more cars on a shoestring. Specifically, to clarify the internal organization, the company was divided into seven divisions, and the purpose and jurisdiction of each division was clear. Second, he reduced the risk of manulfacturing mass-produced cars by also manufacturing specialty cars. In November 1938, the Koromo Factory was established, to manufacture automobiles. Automobile quality and cost issues arose, and the management was put into a critical situation. Kiichiro solved those problems by taking prompt action and bringing in-house manufacturing of automobile parts. In 1941, Kiichiro became president of Toyota Motor Industry.
Toyota Motor Corporation and war
Toyota Motor Corporation had restricted its activities due to the war. In 1937, the second Sino-Japanese War broke out and it caused great challenges to the Japanese automobile industry including Toyota Motor Corporation. Following the end of the war, the Japanese government restricted automobile production and stopped small car production in favor of products for the military, making the production and purchase of passenger cars difficult. In 1938, the National General Mobilization Law was enacted to maximize the use of human and physical resources. This law required Toyota Motor Corporation to prioritize building trucks for the military and munitions industries.