Summary
The latest numbers give credence to a growing chorus of predictions that Toyota will capture 15% of the global auto market by 2015, dethroning General Motors as the world's largest automaker. Toyota has been able to stage its astonishing assault on world markets by maintaining ruthless quality and cost controls. But while the rest of the world fears Toyota, insiders are concerned about the company's ability to manage its growth and maintain the quality of its products. Even by Japanese standards, Toyota is famously insular. That insularity leads to missteps. Another major issue inside the mighty Toyota is that the rapid globalization and production expansion has begun to strain its manpower supply. The twin goals of improved quality and cost reduction, coupled with the demand for raising productivity, are imposing pressures on employees and managers that they haven't experienced in the past.
See the full content of this document
Extract
Mighty Toyota's Growing Pains
The latest numbers give credence to a growing chorus of predictions that Toyota will capture 1 5 percent of the global auto market by 2015, dethroning General Motors as the world's largest automaker. Toyota expanded global sales by 9.9 percent for the fiscal year ended in March, finishing in a statistical dead heat with Ford and narrowing the gap with GM ( see chart, facing page). It even defied the adverse effect of a strong yen and increased net earnings to $10.2 billion, making it inarguably the most profitable ear company in the world.
Toyota is gearing to expand its production capacity by 1.5 million vehicles world...See the full content of this document
Sponsored links
