Toyota made 9.5 million cars in 2007 alone, with success being pinned to the fact that cars are produced in the country where they are sold. This has led to a global enterprise, with Toyota's production spanning six continents, with a work force of quarter of a million people, and selling within 160 different markets across the globe.
Toyota was actually the result of the Toyota Spinning and Weaving Company, set up by Sakichi Toyoda in 1918. He invented the first automatic loom, for which he sold the patent and gave the money to his son. His son, Kiichiro, invested it into automotive technology and in 1936 the Toyota AA hit the market, with the 100,000th vehicle being built 11 years later. Toyota cars came to Europe in 1962, with production surpassing the one million mark. Fast forward a couple of decades to 1986, and 50 million Toyotas had been produced. A few years later, Toyota set up manufacturing in Britain with an engine manufacturing plant in Wales and a factory in Derbyshire where cars are produced.
