The article under consideration From 0 to 60 to World Domination by Jon Gertner deals with the history of Toyota’s development into one of the leaders of the American automobile market. The article depicts the main landmarks of the company’s development and voices the main principles and philosophy of Toyota.
One of the main constituents of Toyota’s success in car manufacturing is their long-term policy; for they don’t focus on a quarter or a year plans, they “think in years and decades”, as it is pointed out in the article. To my mind, in our times it becomes a real necessity to be up-to-date each day, for the world changes too fast. And Toyota is one of such companies, for it already produces hybrids which are to replace fuel cars in the nearest future. The company actually proved the effectiveness of such long-term policy, producing fuel-efficient cars, which became so popular in the United States in the early 1970s after the fuel crisis and, thus, burst into the American car market. The company pays exceptional attention to innovations and, Katsuaki Watanabe, Toyota’s president, stresses that his dream and even final aim is to create a car that “does not hurt anyone and cleans the air when it’s running”, and in the case with Toyota, it is quite achievable.
Another point that makes Toyota’s cars so popular is their comfort for the drivers and passengers. The article highlights some examples of how Toyota’s engineers succeed in satisfying the demand of customers. And the answer is very easy they simply ask drivers, they watch them driving and working, and try to make the use of a vehicle as comfortable as it is possible. And they think over each detail, for instance, they noticed that pickup drivers work in gloves all day long, and decided to make door handles and even radio knobs extra-large. So they never stop and seek improvement, implementing their “Kaizen” principle.
And, of course, one of Toyota’s peculiarities is Japanese accuracy in everything. Each worker is occupied with some peculiar part, and in time becomes a real master, making his maybe small but perfect part. And it is significant that Toyota employees stop anytime they find a problem to fix it, and not to hide it so that they could obtain the necessary quality from the first time. Thus, customers can be sure that they will not face some defects on their way home; they will always enjoy comfort and security in Toyota cars.
And one of the major points of Toyota’s success is its thoughtful management and bold steps. For example, to promote their cars in Japan they decided to donate to the development of Japanese driving schools. Nowadays Toyota proceeds introducing promotion activities, for instance, it has become a “sponsor of bass-fishing tournaments” or Brooks and Dunn, who are “the country-music duo”. And during these activities, the company introduces the advantages of their cars to potential customers. But Toyota reaches its goals not only to its technology or management, to my mind, but it is also very important that the company never stops, even after failures. For example, their first try in the American market failed, but they didn’t quit their attempts, and in some twenty years Toyota became popular in America.
Thus, Toyota, being a company with a long history goes on, developing the car manufacturing industry. Of course, it faces some difficulties and sometimes grave problems, but its philosophy will never let Toyota fail. But the main principle of Toyota “Improvement” will help the company to overcome all the difficulties and reach perfection.