5 Toyota in Australia has always cared very much for its reputation in the market place and in the minds of its customers. One of its sayings was 'Employee first equals customer first. Interpret the likely meaning of this statement, and consider how it will play out given the new circumstances of the Toyota Australia planned 2017 manufacturing shutdown.

By 2014, Toyota had become a very successful global automaker with 53 overseas manufacturing companies in 28 countries and regions, and vehicles sold in more than 170 countries and regions. Toyota was seen by many industries and researchers as a benchmark of 'world's best practice' in operational excellence, which in Toyota was referred to as the Toyota Production System (TPS).

More generally, Toyota built on the core values created by its founders and had implemented its Toyota Way philosophy since 2001, based on two pillars of respect for people and continuous improvement, driving customer value creation and constantly pursuing perfection. These approaches have raised Toyota to a point where its vehicles were viewed by many customers as being high in their 'value proposition', based on reliability and durability, especially at the competitive price points that were offered to customers.