BookTitleToyota Tsusho 70-Year History

Summary

Toyota Tsusho 70-Year History

Promoting the ToyotaEnvironmental ProjectPleased with its success in Beijing, theMetals Division decided to launch a project inDalian.In October 2017, Toyota Tsusho investedin a local company in Dalian and establishedan automobile recycling business there. Forvarious reasons, the plant in Beijing was notable to completely exclude private contractorsfrom involvement and was forced to use amixture of private contractors and corporations.In Dalian, on the other hand, Toyota Tsushosucceeded in configuring the plant so thatprivate contractors were not required. The goalwas to create a plant that could be held up asthe model to be attained.These efforts attracted the attention ofTMC. One of the challenges in the“ToyotaEnvironmental Challenge 2050”announcedby TMC in October 2015 had led to theestablishment of the Toyota Global 100Dismantlers Project, under which Beijingbecame the first model dismantling facilityoutside Japan.Flexible Business DevelopmentToyota Tsusho has taken the first stepstoward launching a business for the properprocessing of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs)in China, but one problem remains: it is notpermitted to reuse engines and transmissions.Legal restrictions mean that these items have tobe scrapped. The time will surely come whenChina will revise its laws on the recycling ofengines and transmissions. In preparation forthat day, Toyota Tsusho is working to increasethe added value of ELVs.When asked about plans to expand to otherareas in China, the Metals Division team leaderagreed that would be an option.“We will needto be flexible and respond to the situation atthe time. Beijing and Dalian are full-specdismantling plants, but not all plants need to belike them. We could provide an existing plantwith technical instruction so that it becameaccredited, or we could simply lend equipment.We would need to assess the situation andScrap blocksdemand at the potential location. Our plan is tokeep an eye on the legal situation and the stateof the industry, as well as market trends, andconsider where it would be appropriate to goand what is the right number of plants to have.”Toyota Tsusho’s UniqueRecycling BusinessToyota Tsusho’s goal is to set up not justa dismantling business but a business for theproper processing of ELVs. Profitability isof course a major objective, but the companyalso sees this business as meaningful in termsof contributing to society. In an industry fullof gray areas and vested interests, ToyotaTsusho will continue to insist that its plantsconduct proper processing in accordancewith the company’s mission, which is thepursuit of safety and compliance. ToyotaTsusho contributes to the“arteries”of theToyota Group through its roles in automobileproduction and sales of new cars at dealerswhile being involved in the“veins”of thegroup through ELV processing and recycling.Toyota Tsusho will continue to play a part inpromoting the Toyota Group’s environmentalprojects while building its own unique ELVrecycling business.Stories195