If you consider yourself a gearhead, Toyota is putting you to the test. See how many of these facts you how:
• Toyota started out as an automated loom business in 1924
• Toyota’s founder’s name is spelled, T-o-y-o-d-a
• In the 1950’s, Toyota nearly went bankrupt from poor sales but was saved by a massive US army order of 5,000 vehicles
• The Toyota name is spelled out in the logo
• 80% of Toyotas sold in 1996 are still on the road today
• Toyota has close to 100 models that vary between different regions of the world
• Toyota is the largest OEM in the world, selling over 9.98 million vehicles in 2013
• Toyota has the most patents of ANY OEM. The company consistently ranks among the top organizations that are annually granted the most US patents. In 2016 alone, Toyota was granted 1,540 US patents and listed in the top 20 patent awards alongside big name companies, like Apple.
• The name changed from “Toyoda” to “Toyota” for good luck, because in Japanese culture, the number eight is considered a lucky number in Japanese culture as it symbolizes growing prosperity and it takes brush strokes to write the logo in Japanese. Also, “Toyoda” in Japanese translates to “fertile rice patties,” suffice to say there were other reasons for changing the name as well. The new company name was registered in August 1937 as the “Toyota Motor Company.”
• In 2014, they became the first OEM to sell a hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle commercially – the Toyota Mirai