Toyota Motor Corporation began in 1933 as a division of the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, Ltd., now a subsidiary. It was incorporated as the Toyota Motor Company, Ltd., in 1937. Since then Toyota has established several related companies, including Toyoda Machine Works, Ltd. (1941), and Toyota Auto Body, Ltd. (1945). During the 1960s and '70s the company expanded at a rapid rate and began exporting large numbers of automobiles to foreign markets. Toyota also acquired such companies as Hino Motors, Ltd. (1966), which manufactures buses and large trucks; Nippondenso Company, Ltd., which makes electrical auto components; and Daihitsu Motor Company, Ltd. (1967). For several decades Toyota has been Japan's largest automobile manufacturer. The company took its present name in 1982, when the motor company was merged with Toyota Motor Sales Company, Ltd.

Toyota has assembly plants and distributors in many foreign countries, and its vehicles, some in the form of unassembled units, are exported to more than 140 countries. In addition to automotive products, subsidiaries manufacture rubber and cork materials, steel, synthetic resins, automatic looms, and cotton and woolen goods. Others deal in real estate, prefabricated housing units, and the import and export of raw materials.