Translations

Toyota gets involved in the Third Industrial Revolution

4. Environment

Energy / Greenhouse Gases (GHG)

Sector Industry

Year 2012

Country Belgium

Transmitter

Context

Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) was established in 1937. Today, with 318,000 employees, it comprises 77 manufacturing companies in 27 countries and sells vehicles in 170 countries. Toyota Motor Europe NV/SA (TME) oversees the wholesale sales and marketing of Toyota and Lexus vehicles, parts and accessories, and Toyota’s European manufacturing and engineering operations. In Europe, Toyota has invested over 7 billion euros since 1990. Toyota’s operations in Europe are supported by a network of 30 National Marketing and Sales Companies across 56 countries, a total of around 3,000 sales outlets, and nine manufacturing plants. In 2011, Toyota sold 822,386 Toyota and Lexus vehicles in Europe.

Objectives

The Toyota Global Vision best expresses what kind of company we want to be:- Toyota will lead the way to the future of mobility, enriching lives around the world with the safest and most responsible ways of moving people.- Through our commitment to quality, constant innovation and respect for the planet, we aim to exceed expectations and be rewarded with a smile.- We will meet the challenging goals by engaging the talent and passion of people, who believe there is always a better way.

APPROACH

Toyota aims at globally “establishing a low carbon society”,….to contribute to sustainable growth of society…….The key to creating a low-carbon society is eliminating reliance on fossil fuels. Since 1965, we have been developing hybrid technology thinking that this technology could link electrification, gasoline, diesel and alternative fuels together to reach our ultimate goal.

Toyota has a deep sense of a larger social mission – to provide mobility globally with minimal disturbance to society and the environment.

The mobility of the future is leading us to think beyond our original competency of making automobiles. Partnering with other stakeholders and companies Toyota is advancing their R&D into the so-called Smart Grid, one of the 5 pillars of the Third Industrial Revolution according to Jeremy Rifkin. The first trigger for our involvement in Smart Grid is our launch of Plug-in Hybrid and Electric Vehicles, to be followed in 2015 by the launch of a fuel cell hydrogen vehicle. The second trigger is the Toyota Home’s Smart House. A smart home is equipped with a mechanism to efficiently control solar power generation and electricity consumption. Tapping into sources of renewable energy like solar or wind is an important part of creating our future sustainable lifestyles.

CONTRIBUTION TO COMPANY PERFORMANCE

- 474,000 hybrid vehicles sold in Europe since 2000 and more than 4.5 million worldwide since 1997.

- 10% of Toyota and Lexus sales in Europe were hybrid vehicles in 2011; this will become 15% in 2012, and 17% in 2013. In Japan this figure is 40%, worldwide 15% in 2012.