The Toyota Car Factory

A few weeks ago I went to Toyota for a tour of the Toyota Car Plant. It was extremely impressive and very interesting. I was able to see the assembly line, the welding shop, and take a tour of the exhibition hall and museum.

------------- I also got to test drive the Prius, which is the latest Toyota hybrid car!

The highlights of the tour included learning about the factory's card system for making parts. Due to Japan being a small country, and land being very expensive, Toyota cannot afford (and neither can the country) to have warehouses storing car parts in them, so they only make parts on a need only basis. When a part is used, its card and empty box is picked up, sorted, and put in to a truck to be refilled. That way there is no excess materials being wasted. -- Very smart!

Toyota was founded by Mr. Toyoda. The reason why the company is called "Toyota" and not "Toyoda" is because of 3 reasons:

1. Toyota sounds better.
2. He believed that family and business should be seperate. The company was not for the family, but for all of Japan, so he wanted it to be different from the family name.
3. The kanji (Chinese characters) for Toyota looks like a mountain. It stands tall, and fans out at the bottom, which symbolizes success and looking foward to the future. When you spell Toyota in katakana (Japanese characters) it is 6 characters long, which is the number of good luck in Japan.

The Japanese put a lot of thought these sort of things.

Another insteresting fact about Toyota cars... they have organic materials in them. They use hibiscus plant as part of an isulation material in the bottom floor of the car to reduce cabin noise. Strange eh? There are fields of hibiscus in Indonesia grown just for Toyota. -- Hmmm, I dunno how I feel about that... but it's interesting.

We also got to have lunch with the head of PR and discuss anything we wanted to with them quite candidly... They were very friendly, and the lunch was AWESOME.

The Prius test drive was really the highlight of the day. The hybrid car runs on both gas and electricity. The car's key is a small black box that you insert into the ignition. You then press a button to turn it on; it's much like turning on a desktop computer. With your foot on the break, you move a small joystick down to "D" for drive, and it quickly bounces back up to where is previously rested - again, it felt like a computer game controller. The odd thing is that the car doesn't sound like it's on because when the car is started it only runs on electric. When you excelerate the gas engine turns on, and when you brake or stop, it turns off. It was a very smooth and quiet ride!

Most Japanese cars have navagational systems in them now which pop up on small tv sets to help you find your way on the road. These systems can also play tv stations, and also help you find resturants etc. Sometimes they can even show you the menu and order for you so that your food is waiting for you when you arrive at the store!!! Cool eh?

These hyrbid cars also park themselves! Yes, that's right, it will parallel park for you!!! Yay! I hate parallel parking. The car has small cameras in the back that will naviagte you to safety. Mind you, the person driving is still needed: you are in control of the gas and breaks, but the car does all the wheel turning on it's own!

It was a lot of fun driving, especially because it was the first time in over 2 mths that I had driven, and it was on the opposite side of the road! That took some getting used to!

Anyways, Toyota is getting ready for the Aichi Expo 2005 because they will have their site at the car factory. They are very environmentally geared right now because of it. The hybrid car will be the star of the show. -- That, and the buses that DRIVE THEMSELVES!

For those of you who don't already know what the Aichi Expo is... It's a world environment expo which will run from March-September 2005 in Nagoya and a few other sites in Aichi to discuss ways in which the modern world can live in harmony with the earth and it's natural resources.

I have fallen in love with the mascots of the Aichi Expo, Kiccoro and Morizo. They are the cutest. Check out the Expo website for more info: http://www-1.expo2005.or.jp/en/

Till next time...