Toyota’s mission is to become the most respected and admired car company in America,” explains Jana Hartline, manager of environmental communications at Toyota.
To accomplish this, Jana and her colleagues at Toyota are working toward a future where a wide range of innovative vehicles, fuel technologies,
and partnerships converge to create an economically vibrant,
mobile society in harmony with the environment.
It’s a challenge Jana finds exciting and the result is cleaner, greener cars!

THE COMPANY Kiichiro Toyoda began research on gasoline-powered engines in 1930. By 1935 he had developed passenger car prototypes, and in 1957 he introduced the “Toyopet”
in the United States. The Toyopet was not successful and was discontinued. In 1965, however, the Corona was introduced, and it was followed by the Corolla in 1968.
The Corolla went on to become the best-selling passenger car in the world, with 27 million purchased in more than 140 countries!
The popularity of Toyota’s automobiles continued to grow in the United States and in 1975 it surpassed Volkswagen to become the number one import brand. In 1998 Toyota launched its first full-sized pickup, the Toyota Tundra. Toyota also expanded its product line by adding the Lexus brand, which has become known for its exceptional quality and customer service. By 2000, Lexus was one of the best-selling luxury brands in the United States, competing with both Mercedes-Benz and BMW.
Toyota also introduced the Scion brand of moderately priced vehicles for the youth market.
The company opened a national sales headquarters in Torrance, California, and also opened manufacturing facilities so it could produce cars in the United States.
By 2012 Toyota had the capacity to build 2.2 million cars and trucks and 1.45 million engines in 15 plants across North America. Toyota’s sales and distribution organization includes 1,500 Toyota, Lexus, and Scion dealers.
Toyota’s marketing organization has led to many memorable marketing campaigns. Some of its early taglines included, “You Asked For It, You Got It!” and “Oh What a Feeling!” which included the “Toyota Jump.” The Lexus tagline, “The Relentless Pursuit of Perfection,” is still in use today, while Toyota’s ads now exclaim, “Let’s Go Places.”

Questions
1 How does Toyota’s approach to social responsibility relate to the three concepts of social responsibility described in the text (profit responsibility, stakeholder responsibility, and societal responsibility)?
2 How does Toyota’s view of sustainable mobility contribute to the company’s overall mission?
3 Has Toyota’s National Parks project been a success?
What indicators suggest that the project has had an impact?
4 What future activities would you suggest for Toyota as it strives to improve its reputation?