Celebrating the Toyota Brand’s 60th Year in America

This past Halloween marked the Toyota brand’s 60^th anniversary in America. On October 31, 1957, the Toyota Motor Company opened its first dealership – a 3,000 square-foot space in Hollywood, CA. And how the times have changed: today, Toyota Motor North America operates close to 1,500 Toyota and Lexus dealerships and10 manufacturing facilities, while employing more than 136,000 people.

The Toyota brand’s first big success was the Toyota Land Cruiser, unveiled in the 1950s. The brand hit another homerun in the 1960s with the release of the Toyota Corolla, which is now the top-selling car in history. The 1970s saw the debut of two now-retired but much-loved sport-focused models, the Toyota Supra and the Toyota Celica. And regarding the 1980s, every owner of a Toyota Camry near Des Plaines, IL can trace their car’s roots to this memorable decade, as can every Toyota 4Runner driver.

Until the 1970s, all of the Toyota brand’s models were built overseas. This changed when the brand partnered with Atlas Fabricators in Long Beach, CA for truck-bed manufacturing. Another sea-change came in 1977, when Toyota Motor Company’s Toyota Technical Center (which celebrated its 40^th anniversary in May 2017) christened its first American R&D facility. And on the financing side, October 1982 was the month when Toyota Motor Credit Corporation commenced operations.

Toyota Motors North America has also done an excellent job of staying on the cutting edge of technology. Just last year, the Toyota Research Institute was created to develop advancements in robotics and autonomous vehicles. Also in 2016, Toyota Connected was founded to enhance the driving experience through the innovative use of data.

Schaumburg Toyota is a proud part of the Toyota brand’s success story, and you can be too when you purchase one of our critically-acclaimed new or used Toyota cars near Palatine, IL!