Toyota’s success in the American auto market is no accident.

Th e company has used strategies honed since the 1950s to earn and retain customer satisfaction by producing superior vehicles within a highly effi cient production environment. Two core philosophies guide Toyota’s business: (1) creating fair, balanced, mutually benefi cial relationships with both suppliers and employees, and (2) strictly adhering to a just-in-time ( JIT)

manufacturing principle.

By substituting discipline and effi ciency for fanfare, Toyota has quietly earned a long-standing reputation for the reliability and quality of all of its models. Although the company’s domestic competitors have taken notice and now use many of Toyota’s proven methods, their fi nancial diffi culties make it hard to keep up the fi ght.