Toyota marked the milestone of its 70th anniversary in 2007 with a wide range of projects aimed at building a stronger foundation toward great advances in the future.
On the product front, the Lexus LS Hybrid went on sale in Japan in May and was steadily introduced in other countries around the world. The new Corolla was launched in Japan in 2006 and introduced in China and other overseas markets in 2007. In addition, in Japan, Toyota endeavored to carefully respond to the varied needs of its customers and to contribute to market expansion and economic stimulation by actively launching more new models than in 2006.
In manufacturing, Camry production began in April 2007 at Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. (SIA), the North American production base of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. And in December, a new plant began operation in Russia. Also, plans are underway to begin production at new plants in Thailand and China. Toyota is continuing to promote further localization, based on the principle of producing vehicles in those countries or regions where demand exists. In Japan, Toyota equipped Takaoka Plant with a completely upgraded production line, positioning it as a model of innovative manufacturing that employs the company’s most-advanced technologies. Furthermore, in line with the expansion of its business worldwide, Toyota is carrying out human resources development from a global perspective and strengthening its localization efforts with greater autonomy for its local subsidiaries.
In R&D, Toyota is continuing to focus its efforts in the three key areas of the environment, safety and energy. In particular, Toyota has positioned hybrid technologies as core technologies that can contribute to resolving environmental issues and it continues to under ...