Proton and Perodua were the two top car brands in Malaysia with sales over 60 percent. Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) managed to make it into the top 10 and ranked 3rd in the list. The total units sold in 2009 was 81,794 (only 15.8 percent). The sales figure dropped from 99,995 units recorded in 2008.
Founded on heavy machineries
Even though Toyota is not the top selling car brand in Malaysia, TMC is the largest automobile maker by sales and production in the world. Founded in 1937 by Kiichiro Toyoda, it was a spin off from his father’s company, Toyota Industries to produce automobiles.
With its headquarters in Toyota City located within Tokyo, TMC has grown and expanded into a large multinational corporation involved in manufacturing automobiles as well as offering financial services and creating robots.
Toyota Motor Company and Toyota Motor Sales merged and renamed the corporation as Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) in 1982. TMC received its first Japanese Quality Control Award in 1980s when the corporation began to take part in motorsports.
Joined with GM
Then in 1984, TMC set up a joint venture with General Motors known as New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. In 1990s, TMC changed its strategy to produce not only compact cars but also luxurious vehicles. Camry and Scion brand were launched in the market to target young adults who are looking for sporty, unique and affordable cars.
World-Class Facilities from A Japanese brand
TMC owns a number of factories worldwide to manufacture and assemble vehicles for local markets. This multinational corporation owns assembly plants in Australia, India, Indonesia, Poland, Turkey, United States, Portugal, China, Vietnam, Venezuela and Malaysia.
One of the more well-known models produced by TMC and assembled locally in Malaysia is Toyota Avanza. This mini MPV was designed based on two models – Toyota Kijang and Toyota Innova. The car was launched at the Gaikindo Auto Expo in 2003. Since then, Toyota Avanza has become one of the best-selling MPVs in Malaysia.
Significant Models of Toyota
When Toyota first ventured into the automotive sector, it was very much involved in the small-sized vehicles. This as around the 1940s and 50s when it went with the name Toyopet. This had quite an impressive list of models like the Crown, Master, SA and the Toyopet Corona.
In the 1980s, Toyota cars have become quite popular and even received its first Japanese Qualit Control Award. It then ventured into motorsports. In 1982, the joint-venture with GM started and then the next decade saw Toyota starting producing compact cars.
To date, Toyota’s Corolla and Corona have been quite successful in every market it ventured into. Toyota will continue to enjoy huge successes in their models where the Camry won the Car of the Year 2007.
One of the most significant models that Toyota produced over the years is their hybrid, the Toyota Prius. Toyota went into the racing car industry through its iconic models like Toyota Celica and the super-powered Toyota Supra, which has since been discontinued. Meanwhile, the Toyota MR2 remains as one of the most recognized names from Toyota.
Toyota in Malaysia
In Malaysia, Toyota’s most successful model has been the Avanza although it has since lost market share with the introduction of respective models from other brands. Its Toyota Vios meanwhile has been one of the better performing models in the sedan category in recent years, competing against the likes of Honda City and Nissan Almeria.
