Eiji Toyoda
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Eiji Toyoda (豊田英二 Toyoda Eiji) born 12 September 1913 near Nagoya in Japan, is a prominent Japanese industrialist, who was largely responsible for bringing Toyota Motor Corporation to profitability and worldwide prominence during his tenure as CEO and later Chairman, a position he held until 1994. Born into a family of textile manufacturers, Eiji Toyoda is the son of Heihachi Toyoda, the brother of Toyoda Loom Works founder Sakichi Toyoda.
He studied engineering at Tokyo Imperial University from 1933 to 1936. During this time Toyoda's cousin Kiichiro established an automobile plant at the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works. Toyoda joined his cousin in the plant at the conclusion of his degree and throughout their lives, shared a deep friendship.
Toyoda visited Ford's plant at Dearborn, Michigan, during the early 1950s. Toyota had been in the business of the manufacture of cars for 13 years at this stage, and had produced just over 2,500 automobiles. The Ford plant in contrast manufactured 8,000 vehicles a day. Due to this difference, Toyoda decided to adopt US automobile mass production methods.
In 1983, Toyoda decided to compete in the luxury car market, which culminated in the 1989 introduction of the Lexus.
Toyoda stepped down as chairman of Toyota in 1994.
[edit] See also
[edit] Works Cited
- "Toyota-fifty years in motion", Eiji Toyoda, Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1987.
