Japanese businessman. 5th president of Toyota Motor Corporation, 1st Chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation, 1st Honorary Chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation, 1st Chief Advisor of Toyota Motor Corporation, 2nd chairman of Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association , 1st chairman of the Toyota Foundation, 1st chairman of the school corporation Toyota Gakuen, and 1st chairman of the school corporation Toyota Tokyo Maintenance Academy.∼"Eiji Toyoda 12 September 1913 – 17 September 2013) was a prominent Japanese industrialist, who was largely responsible for bringing Toyota Motor Corporation to profitability and worldwide prominence during his tenure as president and later, as chairman. On 17 September 2013, five days after his 100th birthday, Toyoda died of heart failure in Toyota City, Japan. He was undergoing treatment at Toyota Memorial Hospital, founded in 1938 as a facility for Toyota workers."∼
Eiji was born in the Chubu region, central Japan. His father was Heihachi Toyoda, the brother of Sakichi Toyoda who founded the Toyoda Loom Works in Nagoya. Of the Fujiwara clan, the Toyodas were samuri-farmers on land they had held for centuries. The redistribution after World War Two left them about 90 acres.
Toyota Motors was created as a division of the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works by his cousin Kiichiro Toyoda, in the 1930's. Eiji is credited with its development into the third-largest automobile manufacturer in the world today.
Eiji studied mechanical engineering at Tokyo Imperial University from 1933 to 1936. Upon graduation, He joined Toyoda Automatic Loom, Ltd. and within a year he was working at the nascent auto production facility. He and his cousin were very close throughout their lives, and in 1938 Kiichiro requested that Eiji oversee construction of a modernized auto factory 32 km east of Nagoya at Koromo, eventually renamed Toyota City. This facility became the "Honsha" or headquarters plant, the "mother factory" for Toyota Motors production.
In 1945, he was promoted to director.
Eiji travelled to the U.S. in 1950 to sign a "tie-up" agreement (similar to agreements before the Second World War) which would involve Ford Motor Company's financial investment in Toyota Motor Corporation Limited, and Ford's sending three engineers of specific specialities to Japan to train Japanese engineers and techs. Due to developments in the Korean conflict of the early 1950's, the United States government restricted its citizen and corporate investment overseas, and restricted American engineers in key industries in travelling overseas. In renegotiating its agreements with Toyota, Ford agreed to take several Japanese trainees in America, and Managing Director Eiji Toyoda, as an engineer on the spot, extended his stay to become a "trainee." He visited the Ford River Rouge plant at Dearborn first, and then toured all of the American facilities.
"Henry Ford's concept had been to mine the ore in the north, and move southward with plants which made parts, culminating in a complete automobile rolling off his assmbly line ready to drive." The scale of the Dearborn plant was impressive, but to Eiji's eye, efficiency and quality could be improved. Ford's production at that time exceded 8,000 vehicles per day. Toyota Motor Corporation's stat was 40 per day, for an entire production history totalling just over 3,500 after thirteen years.
Eiji Toyoda recruited Taiichi Ohno, a loom machinist, to "develop core concepts of ... the 'Toyota Way,' ...[the] Kanban system of labeling parts, an early precursor to bar codes." Eiji and Taiichi were applying the concept of Kaizen, which involves incremental but constant improvements designed to cut production and labor costs while boosting overall quality.
In the 1950's Toyota motors focused on exporting to the U.S. market, Eiji developed the Toyopet Crown sedan for their first attempt, introduced in August, 1957. A grand total of 288 were sold the first year. The car did not handle well at speeds exceeding 60 mph, overheated in the mountains and the desert, and couldn't compete with the popular VW. He instructed his team to concentrate on Land Cruiser sales for the time being, a Jeep- or Range Rover-type vehicle.
He tried again with the compact 1968 Corolla. This success brought profitability, and can largely be attributed to Eiji Toyoda's insistance on improvements — the new 1.0 liter engine, air conditioning, and automatic transmissions — all of which were resisted by Toyota president Fukio Nakagawa.
In 1983, as chairman, Eiji decided to enter the American luxury car market, resulting in the 1989 introduction of the Lexus line, now recognized worldwide for quality.
David Cole, former chairman of the Center for Automotive Research, said "He was a real visionary and inspirational leader who understood what it would take to make Toyota a successful company." Leslie Kendall, curator of the Petersen Automotive Museum, described Toyoda as the Japanese equivalent of Henry Ford.
Eiji Toyoda served as president of Toyota from 1967 to 1981, and then as chairman of the board of directors from 1981 to 1994, but after he stepped down, he continued to report for work every day. After hip surgery, he spent some time in a wheelchair, but bounced back from that, and was right back at work. He was treated at Toyota Regional Hospital for heart problems. Five days after his 100th birthday, he succumbed to a heart attack.
Eiji Toyoda was preceded in death by his wife, Kazuko Toyoda, and is survived by three sons. The funeral and the interment were private.
Eiji was born in the Chubu region, central Japan. His father was Heihachi Toyoda, the brother of Sakichi Toyoda who founded the Toyoda Loom Works in Nagoya. Of the Fujiwara clan, the Toyodas were samuri-farmers on land they had held for centuries. The redistribution after World War Two left them about 90 acres.
Toyota Motors was created as a division of the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works by his cousin Kiichiro Toyoda, in the 1930's. Eiji is credited with its development into the third-largest automobile manufacturer in the world today.
Eiji studied mechanical engineering at Tokyo Imperial University from 1933 to 1936. Upon graduation, He joined Toyoda Automatic Loom, Ltd. and within a year he was working at the nascent auto production facility. He and his cousin were very close throughout their lives, and in 1938 Kiichiro requested that Eiji oversee construction of a modernized auto factory 32 km east of Nagoya at Koromo, eventually renamed Toyota City. This facility became the "Honsha" or headquarters plant, the "mother factory" for Toyota Motors production.
In 1945, he was promoted to director.
Eiji travelled to the U.S. in 1950 to sign a "tie-up" agreement (similar to agreements before the Second World War) which would involve Ford Motor Company's financial investment in Toyota Motor Corporation Limited, and Ford's sending three engineers of specific specialities to Japan to train Japanese engineers and techs. Due to developments in the Korean conflict of the early 1950's, the United States government restricted its citizen and corporate investment overseas, and restricted American engineers in key industries in travelling overseas. In renegotiating its agreements with Toyota, Ford agreed to take several Japanese trainees in America, and Managing Director Eiji Toyoda, as an engineer on the spot, extended his stay to become a "trainee." He visited the Ford River Rouge plant at Dearborn first, and then toured all of the American facilities.
"Henry Ford's concept had been to mine the ore in the north, and move southward with plants which made parts, culminating in a complete automobile rolling off his assmbly line ready to drive." The scale of the Dearborn plant was impressive, but to Eiji's eye, efficiency and quality could be improved. Ford's production at that time exceded 8,000 vehicles per day. Toyota Motor Corporation's stat was 40 per day, for an entire production history totalling just over 3,500 after thirteen years.
Eiji Toyoda recruited Taiichi Ohno, a loom machinist, to "develop core concepts of ... the 'Toyota Way,' ...[the] Kanban system of labeling parts, an early precursor to bar codes." Eiji and Taiichi were applying the concept of Kaizen, which involves incremental but constant improvements designed to cut production and labor costs while boosting overall quality.
In the 1950's Toyota motors focused on exporting to the U.S. market, Eiji developed the Toyopet Crown sedan for their first attempt, introduced in August, 1957. A grand total of 288 were sold the first year. The car did not handle well at speeds exceeding 60 mph, overheated in the mountains and the desert, and couldn't compete with the popular VW. He instructed his team to concentrate on Land Cruiser sales for the time being, a Jeep- or Range Rover-type vehicle.
He tried again with the compact 1968 Corolla. This success brought profitability, and can largely be attributed to Eiji Toyoda's insistance on improvements — the new 1.0 liter engine, air conditioning, and automatic transmissions — all of which were resisted by Toyota president Fukio Nakagawa.
In 1983, as chairman, Eiji decided to enter the American luxury car market, resulting in the 1989 introduction of the Lexus line, now recognized worldwide for quality.
David Cole, former chairman of the Center for Automotive Research, said "He was a real visionary and inspirational leader who understood what it would take to make Toyota a successful company." Leslie Kendall, curator of the Petersen Automotive Museum, described Toyoda as the Japanese equivalent of Henry Ford.
Eiji Toyoda served as president of Toyota from 1967 to 1981, and then as chairman of the board of directors from 1981 to 1994, but after he stepped down, he continued to report for work every day. After hip surgery, he spent some time in a wheelchair, but bounced back from that, and was right back at work. He was treated at Toyota Regional Hospital for heart problems. Five days after his 100th birthday, he succumbed to a heart attack.
Eiji Toyoda was preceded in death by his wife, Kazuko Toyoda, and is survived by three sons. The funeral and the interment were private.
Japanese businessman. 5th president of Toyota Motor Corporation, 1st Chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation, 1st Honorary Chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation, 1st Chief Advisor of Toyota Motor Corporation, 2nd chairman of Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association , 1st chairman of the Toyota Foundation, 1st chairman of the school corporation Toyota Gakuen, and 1st chairman of the school corporation Toyota Tokyo Maintenance Academy.∼"Eiji Toyoda 12 September 1913 – 17 September 2013) was a prominent Japanese industrialist, who was largely responsible for bringing Toyota Motor Corporation to profitability and worldwide prominence during his tenure as president and later, as chairman. On 17 September 2013, five days after his 100th birthday, Toyoda died of heart failure in Toyota City, Japan. He was undergoing treatment at Toyota Memorial Hospital, founded in 1938 as a facility for Toyota workers."∼
Eiji was born in the Chubu region, central Japan. His father was Heihachi Toyoda, the brother of Sakichi Toyoda who founded the Toyoda Loom Works in Nagoya. Of the Fujiwara clan, the Toyodas were samuri-farmers on land they had held for centuries. The redistribution after World War Two left them about 90 acres.
Toyota Motors was created as a division of the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works by his cousin Kiichiro Toyoda, in the 1930's. Eiji is credited with its development into the third-largest automobile manufacturer in the world today.
Eiji studied mechanical engineering at Tokyo Imperial University from 1933 to 1936. Upon graduation, He joined Toyoda Automatic Loom, Ltd. and within a year he was working at the nascent auto production facility. He and his cousin were very close throughout their lives, and in 1938 Kiichiro requested that Eiji oversee construction of a modernized auto factory 32 km east of Nagoya at Koromo, eventually renamed Toyota City. This facility became the "Honsha" or headquarters plant, the "mother factory" for Toyota Motors production.
In 1945, he was promoted to director.
Eiji travelled to the U.S. in 1950 to sign a "tie-up" agreement (similar to agreements before the Second World War) which would involve Ford Motor Company's financial investment in Toyota Motor Corporation Limited, and Ford's sending three engineers of specific specialities to Japan to train Japanese engineers and techs. Due to developments in the Korean conflict of the early 1950's, the United States government restricted its citizen and corporate investment overseas, and restricted American engineers in key industries in travelling overseas. In renegotiating its agreements with Toyota, Ford agreed to take several Japanese trainees in America, and Managing Director Eiji Toyoda, as an engineer on the spot, extended his stay to become a "trainee." He visited the Ford River Rouge plant at Dearborn first, and then toured all of the American facilities.
"Henry Ford's concept had been to mine the ore in the north, and move southward with plants which made parts, culminating in a complete automobile rolling off his assmbly line ready to drive." The scale of the Dearborn plant was impressive, but to Eiji's eye, efficiency and quality could be improved. Ford's production at that time exceded 8,000 vehicles per day. Toyota Motor Corporation's stat was 40 per day, for an entire production history totalling just over 3,500 after thirteen years.
Eiji Toyoda recruited Taiichi Ohno, a loom machinist, to "develop core concepts of ... the 'Toyota Way,' ...[the] Kanban system of labeling parts, an early precursor to bar codes." Eiji and Taiichi were applying the concept of Kaizen, which involves incremental but constant improvements designed to cut production and labor costs while boosting overall quality.
In the 1950's Toyota motors focused on exporting to the U.S. market, Eiji developed the Toyopet Crown sedan for their first attempt, introduced in August, 1957. A grand total of 288 were sold the first year. The car did not handle well at speeds exceeding 60 mph, overheated in the mountains and the desert, and couldn't compete with the popular VW. He instructed his team to concentrate on Land Cruiser sales for the time being, a Jeep- or Range Rover-type vehicle.
He tried again with the compact 1968 Corolla. This success brought profitability, and can largely be attributed to Eiji Toyoda's insistance on improvements — the new 1.0 liter engine, air conditioning, and automatic transmissions — all of which were resisted by Toyota president Fukio Nakagawa.
In 1983, as chairman, Eiji decided to enter the American luxury car market, resulting in the 1989 introduction of the Lexus line, now recognized worldwide for quality.
David Cole, former chairman of the Center for Automotive Research, said "He was a real visionary and inspirational leader who understood what it would take to make Toyota a successful company." Leslie Kendall, curator of the Petersen Automotive Museum, described Toyoda as the Japanese equivalent of Henry Ford.
Eiji Toyoda served as president of Toyota from 1967 to 1981, and then as chairman of the board of directors from 1981 to 1994, but after he stepped down, he continued to report for work every day. After hip surgery, he spent some time in a wheelchair, but bounced back from that, and was right back at work. He was treated at Toyota Regional Hospital for heart problems. Five days after his 100th birthday, he succumbed to a heart attack.
Eiji Toyoda was preceded in death by his wife, Kazuko Toyoda, and is survived by three sons. The funeral and the interment were private.
Eiji was born in the Chubu region, central Japan. His father was Heihachi Toyoda, the brother of Sakichi Toyoda who founded the Toyoda Loom Works in Nagoya. Of the Fujiwara clan, the Toyodas were samuri-farmers on land they had held for centuries. The redistribution after World War Two left them about 90 acres.
Toyota Motors was created as a division of the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works by his cousin Kiichiro Toyoda, in the 1930's. Eiji is credited with its development into the third-largest automobile manufacturer in the world today.
Eiji studied mechanical engineering at Tokyo Imperial University from 1933 to 1936. Upon graduation, He joined Toyoda Automatic Loom, Ltd. and within a year he was working at the nascent auto production facility. He and his cousin were very close throughout their lives, and in 1938 Kiichiro requested that Eiji oversee construction of a modernized auto factory 32 km east of Nagoya at Koromo, eventually renamed Toyota City. This facility became the "Honsha" or headquarters plant, the "mother factory" for Toyota Motors production.
In 1945, he was promoted to director.
Eiji travelled to the U.S. in 1950 to sign a "tie-up" agreement (similar to agreements before the Second World War) which would involve Ford Motor Company's financial investment in Toyota Motor Corporation Limited, and Ford's sending three engineers of specific specialities to Japan to train Japanese engineers and techs. Due to developments in the Korean conflict of the early 1950's, the United States government restricted its citizen and corporate investment overseas, and restricted American engineers in key industries in travelling overseas. In renegotiating its agreements with Toyota, Ford agreed to take several Japanese trainees in America, and Managing Director Eiji Toyoda, as an engineer on the spot, extended his stay to become a "trainee." He visited the Ford River Rouge plant at Dearborn first, and then toured all of the American facilities.
"Henry Ford's concept had been to mine the ore in the north, and move southward with plants which made parts, culminating in a complete automobile rolling off his assmbly line ready to drive." The scale of the Dearborn plant was impressive, but to Eiji's eye, efficiency and quality could be improved. Ford's production at that time exceded 8,000 vehicles per day. Toyota Motor Corporation's stat was 40 per day, for an entire production history totalling just over 3,500 after thirteen years.
Eiji Toyoda recruited Taiichi Ohno, a loom machinist, to "develop core concepts of ... the 'Toyota Way,' ...[the] Kanban system of labeling parts, an early precursor to bar codes." Eiji and Taiichi were applying the concept of Kaizen, which involves incremental but constant improvements designed to cut production and labor costs while boosting overall quality.
In the 1950's Toyota motors focused on exporting to the U.S. market, Eiji developed the Toyopet Crown sedan for their first attempt, introduced in August, 1957. A grand total of 288 were sold the first year. The car did not handle well at speeds exceeding 60 mph, overheated in the mountains and the desert, and couldn't compete with the popular VW. He instructed his team to concentrate on Land Cruiser sales for the time being, a Jeep- or Range Rover-type vehicle.
He tried again with the compact 1968 Corolla. This success brought profitability, and can largely be attributed to Eiji Toyoda's insistance on improvements — the new 1.0 liter engine, air conditioning, and automatic transmissions — all of which were resisted by Toyota president Fukio Nakagawa.
In 1983, as chairman, Eiji decided to enter the American luxury car market, resulting in the 1989 introduction of the Lexus line, now recognized worldwide for quality.
David Cole, former chairman of the Center for Automotive Research, said "He was a real visionary and inspirational leader who understood what it would take to make Toyota a successful company." Leslie Kendall, curator of the Petersen Automotive Museum, described Toyoda as the Japanese equivalent of Henry Ford.
Eiji Toyoda served as president of Toyota from 1967 to 1981, and then as chairman of the board of directors from 1981 to 1994, but after he stepped down, he continued to report for work every day. After hip surgery, he spent some time in a wheelchair, but bounced back from that, and was right back at work. He was treated at Toyota Regional Hospital for heart problems. Five days after his 100th birthday, he succumbed to a heart attack.
Eiji Toyoda was preceded in death by his wife, Kazuko Toyoda, and is survived by three sons. The funeral and the interment were private.
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