BookTitleToyota Tsusho 70-Year History

Summary

Toyota Tsusho 70-Year History

Toyoda Gosei, and in May 2003 the joint venture startedproducing steering wheels and airbags for automobiles.In May 2005, Green Metal Czech (GMCZ), ToyotaTsusho’s fourth base for its industrial waste processingand scrap metal recycling (green metals) business?the other three being in the U.K., France, and Poland?completed construction of a logistics service center in thecity of Kolin.4 Business Development in TurkeyIn 2013, Toyota Tsusho established Techno SteelProcessing Turkey Celik Bukme ve Isleme Sanayi veTicaret A.S. (TSPT) in Bursa Province to process theelectrical steel sheets used for products such as substationtransformers. The new company started commercialproduction in February 2015.Turkey is positioned in a strategic location adjacentto the three regions of Europe, North Africa, and theMiddle East. With regulations requiring transformersto meet high efficiency standards becoming mandatoryin Europe in July 2015, Toyota Tsusho anticipated thatTurkey would see increased demand for electrical steelsheets with good conduction efficiency. The companyalso forecast an increase in demand from North Africaand the Middle East amid their population growth. TSPT,therefore, served as a strategic export base to thoseneighboring regions.5 Business Development in RussiaExpansion of the Car Dealer BusinessToyota Tsusho established Business Car Co., Ltd., inRussia in 1990, followed by Russia’s first authorizeddealer in 1992. This was the first of a number of dealersopened by Toyota Tsusho in the country. In February2000, Toyota Tsusho established RTF in Finland andstarted selling Toyota vehicles to western Russia. InJune 2000, with the support of TMC, Toyota Tsushoestablished TPCM (Toyota Parts Center Moscow) inMoscow and started supplying parts to TASS (ToyotaAuthorized Service Stations) in western Russia. With thegrowth of the Russian automobile market, sales exceeded11,000 vehicles in 2004, making one of the largest dealerbusinesses in the world.In April 2002, Toyota Tsusho opened a Lexusdealership in northern Moscow. Toyota Tsusho alsoestablished the first Lexus store in Kemerovo in Siberiain April 2007, launching its expansion into Siberia, anarea that had seen rapid development due to skyrocketingdemand for energy. Toyota Tsusho subsequentlycontinued to expand its bases in Russia and as of 2018had a combined total of 19 Toyota and Lexus dealersthere, selling approximately 320,000 new vehiclesbetween 1992 and 2017.In 2006, Toyota Tsusho spun off the Forklift Divisionfrom Business Car, turning it into independent dealerToyota Tsusho Tekhnika LLC. As of 2018, ToyotaTsusho Tekhnika was a major dealer selling about 70%of Toyota’s industrial vehicles in Russia.Expansion of Automobile-Related BusinessesSince opening an office in Moscow in the former SovietUnion in 1972, Toyota Tsusho has continued to expandits trading business in automobile-related fields in Russia,such as automobile parts, chemicals, machine tools andindustrial machinery, and nonferrous metals. In 2006,Toyota Tsusho established machinery distributor ToyotaTsusho Machinery LLC in St. Petersburg to supportToyota production in Russia. In 2012, the companyopened a branch in Togliatti to support the productionoperations of AvtoVAZ, an automobile manufacturer thatwas part of the Renault-Nissan Alliance in Russia. Atthe same time, Toyota Tsusho Machinery LLC changedits company name to Toyota Tsusho Rus LLC (TTR).In 2013, TTR opened an office in Kaluga to support themanufacturing operations of PCMA Rus, LLC, in Russia.In February 2014, the Moscow Office was integrated intoTTR.Toyota Tsusho has 14 affiliates in Russia, three ofA Toyota dealership in the U.K.BC Parts Center (Russia)History167