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Toyota was founded in 1937 by Kiichiro Toyoda as a spinoff from his father's automatic loom business. The company's first passenger car, the Model AA, was introduced the same year. After World War II, Toyota faced near-bankruptcy but recovered through disciplined manufacturing principles that would later become the globally influential Toyota Production System. By the 1960s, Toyota had entered the American market with the Corona and quickly gained a reputation for reliability.
The 1973 oil crisis drove demand for the compact, fuel-efficient Corolla, which became the best-selling car nameplate in history. In 1989 Toyota launched Lexus as a luxury division, and in 1997 introduced the Prius, the world's first mass-produced hybrid, which reshaped the industry.
[Uncertain: the exact claim that Corolla is definitively the best-selling nameplate globally depends on how commercial vehicles and variants are counted; multiple sources agree it leads but figures vary.] Toyota has since expanded into hydrogen fuel-cell technology with the Mirai and continues to invest heavily in solid-state batteries and autonomous driving systems. The brand's philosophy of kaizen (continuous improvement) and long-term thinking has made it one of the world's largest automakers by volume.
Toyota's most transformative innovation is the Toyota Production System (TPS), built on just-in-time manufacturing and jidoka (automation with human intelligence). TPS became a benchmark studied across industries worldwide. In 1997 Toyota launched the Prius, the first mass-produced hybrid-electric vehicle, using its Hybrid Synergy Drive system.
This laid the foundation for a full hybrid lineup and later plug-in hybrids and battery-electric vehicles.
Toyota also pioneered hydrogen fuel-cell technology with the Mirai in 2014, and its TNGA (Toyota New Global Architecture) platform standardized vehicle underpinnings across models, improving efficiency, safety, and driving dynamics. More recently, Toyota has invested in solid-state battery research and the Arene operating system for software-defined vehicles.
Kiichiro Toyoda establishes Toyota Motor Corporation as a spinoff from Toyoda Automatic Loom Works.
Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. is established. The Crown becomes the first Toyota sold in America.
The Toyota Corolla is introduced, going on to become one of the best-selling nameplates in automotive history.
Toyota introduces the Prius, the world's first mass-produced hybrid-electric passenger car.
The Toyota Mirai becomes the first mass-produced hydrogen fuel-cell sedan sold globally.
How the platform works for buyers and dealers