BookTitleToyota Tsusho 70-Year History

Summary

Toyota Tsusho 70-Year History

CongratulationsTakeshi UchiyamadaChairman of the Board Toyota Motor CorporationCongratulations on the 70th anniversary of the establishment of Toyota Tsusho.When I joined Toyota Motor Corporation, Toyota Tsusho already had a strong presence. Your company hadestablished many overseas bases and embarked on many business ventures, such as the efficient supply of steelsheets for Toyota automobiles. I know that Toyota Tsusho had some hard times in the past, so I would liketo express my deepest admiration for the efforts of your predecessors to overcome these troubles and set thecompany firmly on the path to becoming a general trading company.From then until the present day, I can only say that the growth of Toyota has gone hand in hand with thegrowth of your company. I would like to express my sincere appreciation for not only expanding our overseassales channels but also for playing a major role at every stage of our supply and value chains, from procurementof materials essential for production and development to waste disposal and recycling.Your contribution to the automotive engineering work I have been engaged in has been extremely significant.One example is the Prius hybrid vehicle that I was in charge of developing. This vehicle could be successfullymass produced and sold in increasing numbers worldwide only because of Toyota Tsusho’s valuable role inmany related fields, from the procurement of rare earth resources to the recycling of nickel-hydrogen batteries?a role that only Toyota Tsusho could fulfill.Today, the international community faces many challenges, including climate change and demographic issues,and there are great expectations for automotive technologies to help overcome them. Innovations such as safeautomated driving that utilizes information and communications technologies, MaaS (mobility as a service),and cleaner drive trains have become the focus of intense interest as we enter a once-in-a-century period oftransformation.Toyota Tsusho has always shared with Toyota Motor Corporation the same set of values with regard to qualityand technology, and in addition, you have an ambitious spirit that is unique for a general trading company.Moreover, Toyota Tsusho is truly a“manufacturing trading company,”with a diversity achieved through mergerswith Tokyo Mitsubishi?based Kasho Co., Ltd., and Tomen Corp., established by Ichizo Kodama, who had closeties to Sakichi Toyoda. The expectations of your company is therefore extremely high. You have already madegreat strides in securing a supply of hydrogen for the hydrogen society that is expected to become a realityin the near future. You have also been crucially involved in demonstration testing of vehicle platooning andthe development of renewable energy businesses. With these and other such activities, you are harnessing acomprehensive strength that only Toyota Tsusho can lay claim to.In the coming years, the combined strength of the Toyota Group and, in turn, the strength of Japan will betested. I hope that Toyota Tsusho will continue to work together with Toyota Motor Corporation to bring thecollective might of the Toyota Group to bear on the challenges that we face and to bring about great results.February 20195