MORE THAN JUST A CAR COMPANY
Toyota’s innovations focus on the future of mobility
Having worked with Toyota for 30 years, I have long appreciated our company’s pioneering spirit.
Driven by a fundamental belief that there is always a better, safer and cleaner way to get more people to more places, Toyota continues to introduce new technologies that shape the future of mobility. At the same time, we’re equally proud of how we’re much more than just a car company — of how we’re continuously looking for new ways to invest in the communities that have been supporting us from the beginning.
It all starts with our positive impact on the Canadian economy. Over the past five decades, Toyota has planted roots in Canadian communities by investing more than $10.5 billion in —and employing more than 23,000 people at — our operations and our 286 Toyota and Lexus dealerships.
Having manufactured more than 6 million vehicles in this country, we strongly believe in building cars and trucks where we sell them. In 2015, we experienced record production in our manufacturing facilities to make us Canada’s largest producer of automobiles. Almost 600,000 vehicles were built here last year.
With 2015 Canadian sales of about 210,000 units, Toyota supports local suppliers as a net exporter of vehicles from Canada.
We’re also supporting our fellow Canadians through unique community investment initiatives, such as our partnership with Canadian Blood Services. Based on the philosophies of the Toyota Production System, which are rooted in improved efficiencies in manufacturing processes, we’ve been able to share our knowledge and improve the efficiency of the Canadian blood production and distribution processes.
This partnership illustrates how innovation truly is the lifeblood of Toyota — and that it extends beyond the automotive sector.
Our commitment to vehicle safety serves as another example of our innovation.
The Toyota Safety Sense (TSS) package features an array of advanced technologies designed to support driver awareness, decision-making and vehicle operation.
Since we believe that safety should not be a luxury, this advanced safety technology will be standard on the Corolla, the RAV4 and almost every Toyota and Lexus model in Canada by the end of 2017.
We will continue to push forward with new ideas and “think outside the car” to further enhance safety until we reach our ultimate goal of a world without traffic fatalities.
In North America, that commitment is anchored by trailblazing work on advanced safety technologies at the Toyota Research Institute, which was established in 2015 with a $1 billion investment. In addition, we’re partnering with the Traffic Injury Research Foundation in Ottawa on their quest to make our roads safer by studying Canadian perception of future vehicle technology, such as selfdriving vehicles.
And, through our support for the kartStart program, kids are being taught how vehicles work and how to drive them safely long before they get behind the wheel of an actual vehicle.
Toyota’s innovation is also making an impact when it comes to the sustainability of our environment. Last October, we launched the Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050. This is Toyota’s ambitious vision in which we strive to have a net positive environmental impact by 2050.
Our pioneering work and leadership with hybrids is one of the key reasons we’re confident that we’ll be able to rise to that challenge. Since introducing the groundbreaking Prius in 1997, we have sold more than 9 million hybrid vehicles worldwide. Now offering 13 different hybrid options in Canada, we have sold over 20,000 here in the last 18 months alone. Most importantly, today’s Toyota hybrids use at least 30 per cent less fuel than comparable vehicles with gas engines.
Leveraging what we’ve learned from our experience with hybrids, we’re now well positioned to also lead the way with the next generation of advanced technology vehicles such as the Mirai Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric vehicle.
Mirai, which means “future” in Japanese, runs solely on hydrogen, gets 500 kilometres on a single tank, takes only five minutes to refuel, and emits only water vapour as a byproduct. With groundbreak- ing vehicles like the Mirai and other vehicles that support a stronger sustainable mobility framework, we are well positioned to meet our 2050 goal.
Whether it’s making our roads safer with advanced technologies, making our air cleaner through our commitment to sustainable mobility, or making our communities stronger and healthier by providing jobs, Toyota is focused on the future of mobility and being a company that can provide solutions through innovation, technology and the spirit of collaboration.
These aren’t just words. These are our passions. They’re what gets us up in the morning.
The more we talk the talk, the sooner we can collectively walk the walk, step by step, toward a cleaner, safer, better tomorrow.