BookTitleToyota Tsusho 70-Year History

Summary

Toyota Tsusho 70-Year History

Indus Motor Co., Ltd.into the Overseas Business Section.In March 1997, the Overseas Production Parts Department was changed to theVehicle Parts Department and Overseas Production Parts Department, and theVehicle Division was reorganized into Vehicle Departments 1 to 4, the OsakaVehicle Department, the Vehicle Service Department, and the Vehicle PartsDepartment. In March 1999, a new Vehicle Planning Section was established, andin June of the same year the Overseas Production Parts Department moved to theMachinery and Information Technology Division, resulting in a seven-department,one-section structure.Toyota Motor (China) Ltd.Toyota Tsusho PrahaAccelerating Overseas ExpansionIn the 1990s, as TMC and Hino Motors, Ltd., expanded overseas, ToyotaTsusho started re-exporting vehicles produced overseas. In addition to exportingToyota vehicles produced in Thailand, Indonesia, South Africa, the U.K., and theU.S. to the world, Toyota Tsusho also handled exports of Hino trucks producedin Pakistan, as well as industrial vehicles produced in the U.S. and France, andDaihatsu brand vehicles produced in Italy.Toyota Tsusho also promoted the creation of overseas sales bases. In June 1990,Toyota Tsusho participated in a joint venture with a local company in Pakistanto establish Indus Motor Co., Ltd. (percent ownership, 12.5%), a Toyota vehicleproduction and sales company, and in May 1993 Indus sent out its first Corolla asa knockdown vehicle. Later, Hilux knockdown production began at Indus Motors.Also, in June 1993 Toyota Tsusho established Toyota Motor (China) Ltd., a Toyotavehicle agency for China, as a joint venture with TMC in Hong Kong to expandexports of Toyota vehicles to China.Exports to Eastern EuropeWith the end of the East-West Cold War and the transition of the formercommunist countries to market economies, Eastern Europe, and the CIS(Commonwealth of Independent States), emerged as potential markets. Under theVehicle Division, Toyota Authorized Service Stations with the three S functions ofsales, spare parts, and services were established in various major locations of theCIS, and sales of Toyota vehicles were promoted from other bases there.In December 1991, Toyota Tsusho established Toyota Motor Hungary Kft.(TMH) in Hungary, and in August 1993 the company established ToyotaMotor Czech spol. s.r.o. (TMCZ) in the Czech Republic as a joint venture withTMC. Earlier, in June 1992, Toyota Tsusho had established Toyota TsushoCzechoslovakia spol. s.r.o. (currently Toyota Tsusho Praha spol. s.r.o.) inCzechoslovakia as a wholly owned Toyota vehicle dealer. In March 1996, ToyotaTsusho established Toyota Tsusho Budapest (TOP) in Hungary.Transfer of TMC’s Overseas Businesses to Toyota TsushoIn addition to Toyota vehicles, Toyota Tsusho began handling Toyota forklifts,Daihatsu vehicles, and Hino trucks, so that in 1996, the company’s total exportsof vehicles, including locally assembled CKD kits, reached two million units.Export destinations, which had once been limited to Africa and Central and SouthAmerica, had now expanded to more than 100 countries.Based on these achievements, TMC transferred the main operations of its100